- Huge crowds were seen across the country for the second day in a row protesting against Trump’s new order
- Thousands gathered in cities including Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, and Dallas
- The protests were against Trump’s controversial ‘Muslim ban’, as well as his plan to build a Mexico border wall
- Sunday’s demonstrations followed large scale protests on Saturday as people were being detained at airports
Protesters across the country rallied Sunday, as people took to the streets to demonstrate against Donald Trump’s immigration executive order.
Events took place across the nation, including in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Washington DC throughout the day. Many of the events were documented on social media with the hashtag, ‘#NoBanNoWall’ – showing they were also protesting Trump’s plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
Overhead shots from the protest in Boston, held in Copley Square, showed the area overflowing with people. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was seen in a video late Saturday night urging people to attend the demonstration, telling the crowd: ‘Make sure you join us. Stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters.’
Senator Elizabeth Warren also took part in the Boston demonstration. The Massachusetts politician had also been part of protests at Boston’s airport on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, some of those held at New York City’s John F Kennedy airport were seen celebrating as they left Terminal 4 following more than 30 hours of detention.
People kept marching in support of immigrants and refugees even after the sun had set Sunday in Seattle, Washington
‘Let them in!’ A crowd of demonstrators cheered during a rally to oppose Trump’s executive order in downtown Seattle
The Statue of Liberty could be seen pictured on a sign as people marched in support of immigrants and refugees in Seattle
Demonstrators kept protesting Trump’s executive immigration ban at Chicago O’Hare International Airport Sunday evening
A crowd of demonstrators remained at Chicago O’Hare after the sun set as protesters rallied against the immigration ban
The president says in a statement that ‘America is a proud nation of immigrants’ that’will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression,’ but ‘while protecting our own citizens and border’.
He denied once again that his executive order, which bans visitors from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, seven predominantly Muslim countries, was a ban aimed at Muslim people.
‘This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe,’ he said. ‘There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order. We will again be issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days.’
Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly declared the entry of lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, to be of national interest on Sunday evening.
‘In applying the provisions of the president’s executive order, I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest,’ he said in a statement.
‘Accordingly, absent the receipt of significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations.’
Demonstrators in Washington DC marched on the White House, where Trump was inside making calls to world leaders – including the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud.
There were a number of protests scheduled across New York, with a huge crowd already seen gathered at Battery Park – which provided a clear view of the Statue of Liberty out in the water.
The Manhattan event was organized by Make the Road New York – with demonstrators set to march from Battery Park to the Customs and Border Patrol offices.
Charles Schumer addressed the crowd, saying, ‘We are gonna win this fight everybody!’ Senator Cory Booker was also seen speaking to protesters in Manhattan’s Battery Park and marching with the crowd at Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey.
Schumer urged Trump to overturn his ‘awful’ executive orders.
‘These orders go against what America has always been about,’ Schumer told the crowd in Battery Park according to the New York Daily News. ‘The orders make us less humanitarian, less safe, less American and when it comes to making us less safe people forget this, that’s why so many of our military, intelligence, security, and law enforcement leaders are opposed to this order and all those like it.’
Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of Trump’s presidential rival, Hillary, tweeted a picture from the rally. It was captioned: ‘Yes. We will keep standing up for a country that matches our values and ideals for all. #NewYork #NoBanNoWall.’
There are also protests planned in Brooklyn and Queens. In Dallas, people gathered to pray together in the baggage claim at Dallas Fort Worth Airport to protest Trump.
About 200 people also held signs and chanted ‘Let them go!’ as they awaited word Sunday on what state representatives for the Council on American-Islamic Relations say are nine people detained at the airport.
Another demonstration in suburban Chicago was organized by Jewish groups to show support for Muslims, while there were more at Miami International Airport, and LAX.
The Los Angeles protests came as it was revealed Democratic lawyers in both California and New York state are among states discussing whether to legally challenge Trump’s ban.
Protesters at Los Angeles International Airport managed to block traffic next to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, the LA Times reported.
Thousands had gathered at LAX and some sat down, blocking the road until all those detained had been released. Police in riot gear were present but made no arrests.
Airport officials eventually struck a deal with protesters to regulate traffic on the upper and lower levels of the roadway, according to a statement related by ABC 7 reporter Leanne Suter. Protesters could block one level at a time for 15 minutes, allowing the other level to remain unblocked for 30 minutes.
Democrat attorneys general are expected to be a source of fierce resistance to Trump, much as Republican attorneys general opposed former President Barack Obama’s policies.
A lawsuit brought by states would heighten the legal stakes surrounding the president’s executive order, signed late Friday, as courtroom challenges to the ban have so far mostly been filed by individuals.
Trump put a 120-day hold on Friday on allowing refugees into the country, an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and a 90-day bar on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
!['I [heart] sanctuary cities': A protester paid tribute to cities who protect undocumented immigrants during a rally at Philadelphia International Airport](https://annportal.com/images/i/pix/2017/01/30/05/3CA324D200000578-4169720-_I_heart_sanctuary_cities_A_protester_paid_tribute_to_cities_who-a-12_1485755078946.jpg)
‘The Trump executive order should not stand and must be confronted as a constitutional overreach,’ said a statement from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. ‘It tramples on centuries of American tradition.’
California and New York joined Pennsylvania, Washington and Hawaii in evaluating what specific claims could be filed, and in which court.
The states could decide not to file lawsuits, and it was unclear how many states would ultimately sign on for such an effort.
‘There certainly are conversations underway,’ said Joe Grace, a spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
An official with the Department of Homeland Security who briefed reporters by phone said 109 people who were in transit on airplanes had been denied entry and 173 had not been allowed to get on their planes overseas.
No green card holders had ultimately been prevented from entering the US as of Saturday, the official said, though several spent long hours in detention before being allowed in.
Abdollah Mostafavi, 80, was released six hours after his flight arrived in San Francisco from Frankfurt.
‘I’m so happy he’s finally out. He says he’s very tired,’ said his daughter Mozhgan Mostafavi, holding back tears and speaking Farsi with her father.
Hameed Khalid Darweesh, a translator and assistant for the US military in Iraq for 10 years now fleeing death threats, was among at least a dozen people detained at Kennedy Airport.
He walked free after his lawyers, two members of Congress and as many as 2,000 demonstrators went to the airport to seek his release.
‘This is the soul of America,’ Darweesh told reporters after gaining his freedom, adding that the US was home to ‘the greatest people in the world.’
After an appeal from civil liberties lawyers, US District Judge Ann Donnelly issued an emergency order Saturday barring the US from summarily deporting people who arrived with valid visas or an approved refugee application, saying it would likely violate their legal rights.
Staff at US agencies that resettle refugees were scrambling to analyze the situation.
They girded for wrenching phone calls that would have to be made to the thousands of refugees just days away from traveling to the US Donnelly’s order did nothing to help those people gain entry.
Several staff members who spoke to The Associated Press burst into tears as they contemplated the future for people who had waited years to come into the country.
‘It’s complete chaos,’ said Melanie Nezer, policy director for HIAS, one of nine refugee resettlement agencies that work with the US State Department.
Before Trump signed the order, more than 67,000 refugees had been approved by the federal government to enter the US, said Jen Smyers, refugee policy director for Church World Service.
More than 6,400 had already been booked on flights, including 15 families that had been expected over the next few weeks in the Chicago area from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iran, Syria and Uganda.
The bulk of refugees entering the US are settled by religious groups, which organize churches, synagogues and mosques to collect furniture, clothes and toys for the refugees and set up volunteer schedules for hosting duties. All that work ground to a halt after Trump signed the order.