Protests erupt at U.S. airports over ban on refugees

Protests erupted at airports around the nation Saturday as Americans reacted in outrage to President Trump's sweeping order that banned people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and suspended the nation's refugee program.

More than 120 people gathered at Newark Liberty International Airport clutching signs denouncing the executive order, alongside lawyers who rushed to airports to defend the rights of refugees, immigrants and green-card holders, among others, who were being detained and denied entry.

"This banning of people based on religion is not constitutional and it's not what we are about," said Yamandou Alexander of Jersey City, who hurried to Newark airport when he found out about the demonstration.

At the airport, attorneys stood by to help those in need. Attorney David A. Isaacson, who practices primarily immigration law in New York, said he learned of a Syrian citizen with a green card who arrived from Germany at around 4 p.m. was still begin questioned two hours later, as his daughter waited for him to be released.

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A Rutgers student who went to visit her ill mother in Syria and was on her way back also was having problems getting back into the country, said attorney Ayanna Lewis-Gruss. She said the student’s host family reached out to attorneys at the airport after the woman was stopped on a layover in Paris and was not allowed to fly to Newark.

The protests on Saturday were organized spontaneously and grew throughout the day as news spread about the far-reaching impact of Trump's order. There were reports about legal residents detained at borders, stranded in other countries and in some cases deported. At the same time, refugees who had gone through years-long approvals to come to the U.S. were also being barred. As word spread, protests were organized too in other cities including Chicago, Denver and Dallas, as well as Dulles airport in northern Virginia.

Protesters in Newark cheered around 9 p.m. ET after hearing that a federal court judge in Brooklyn had granted an emergency stay that put Trump's executive order on hold. The judge's order barred officials from deporting approved refugees and anyone who arrived in the U.S. with a valid visa from one of the seven countries singled out in the ban. It was unclear how quickly the order might affect people in detention.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, more than 1,000 people gathered by Saturday evening as word spread of the protest.

"I was in disbelief. I just had to jump in my car and head out here," said Hillary Frileck, of Brooklyn.

"This is what really scares me. This resonates with me. One person (who was detained) works for us. These people have visas. It's important for us to speak up. We have to rise up. We can't just lay on our couches and think things will be OK."

Emily Witt of Brooklyn said she viewed the ban as a "bad moral decision" especially given that it was Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"Like everyone else, I'm just shocked and afraid," she said. "I didn't think I would see this. It's a rebuke to us. Once you start registering people because of their beliefs, it's the first step toward a country that goes against American values, where our right to free speech and freedom of religion and freedom of expression is threatened."

Sara Cullinane, director of Make The Road New Jersey, which organized the demonstration in the Newark, said they chose the airport because it's one of the hubs for the arrival of refugees  who are then relocated to different parts of the country.

"We are all learning about the order means and how it will be interpreted," she said.

In Chicago, thousands of demonstrators gathered at O'Hare International Airport to protest the Trump order.

Matt Pryor, a spokesman with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) said more than a dozen people, including several with green cards, were detained at O'Hare International Airport as a result of Trump's executive order.

After the stay was issued in New York, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called on the federal government to immediately release those being detained in his city.

At 10:21 pm, IRAP attorneys said every traveler at O'Hare held under the Trump order had been released.

Pryor said IRAP attorneys identified one Syrian woman who arrived in Chicago and was stopped by immigration officials and sent back to Saudi Arabia, where she currently lives, before a U.S. district judge in New York issued a stay Saturday night, preventing such deportations.

The woman, who had a visa, came to visit her mother in Indiana, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was recovering after surgery.

At Los Angeles International Airport, bewildered travelers carrying their luggage stared at the nearly 200 protesters, who shouted, "No Trump, No KKK, No fascist USA," as they entered the Tom Bradley International Terminal. 

Mohammed Al Rawi, 34, of Long Beach was among the protesters. 

Al Rawi said his father, Qassim, was traveling from Baghdad to Qatar and was about to board a plane headed to Los Angeles when he was stopped by a representative of the airline. 

"That gentleman took his passport and then they came back with an American gentleman who introduced himself as a representative of the U.S. Embassy in Qatar and told him his visa is no longer valid," Al Rawi said. 

Al Rawi said his father and 30 other passengers were placed in a room for over 10 hours. His father was then sent on a plane back to Baghdad.

"He is just exhausted and devastated," Al Rawi said. "He was very excited to see his grandchildren. ... He hasn't seen them in almost two years."

At least 40 people gathered Saturday night at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix to stand in solidarity with individuals arriving from London on a British Airways flight.

Sky Harbor officials declined to say whether any immigrants had been detained at the Phoenix airport, referring information requests to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Officials at the federal agency could not be reached for comment Saturday. American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona officials said they were not aware of anyone being detained at Sky Harbor.

Jill Bernstein said she got home from errands Saturday afternoon and saw news of people protesting at JFK International Airport in New York and decided to invite 250 people on Facebook to join her at the gate of the international flight into Phoenix. She said she didn't even know most of the people who joined her.

"I just figured if we don't stand up whenever we have the opportunity to stand up then we are screwed," Bernstein said. 

The group grew by two or three people every few minutes over an hour. The British Airways flight landed at 6:20 p.m.

Some passengers walking by the group gave shouts of solidarity to the protesters, while others shouted support for Trump. 

Robert Burridge, 74, walked to the crowd and began crying. He had just returned from Mexico and said he wished he had been in the U.S. to be part of the marches following Trump's inauguration.

"Walking into this is so unexpected," Burridge said. "I'm so proud to be here again."

Hannan Adely and Keldy Ortiz report for The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record.

Contributing: Monsy Alvarado, The Record; Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY; Marjorie Hernandez, the Ventura County (Calif.) Star; Ryan Santistevan, The Arizona Republic