Tens of thousands of people rallied in the United States East Coast cities on Sunday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump's executive order that blocks entry into the country for travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
In New York, Washington and Boston, a second wave of demonstrations began after spontaneous rallies at many airports on Saturday, when US Customs and Border Protection agents began enforcing the president's directive.
The order, which bars admission of Syrian refugees and suspends travel to the United States from Iraq, Iran, Sudan and four other countries, has led to the detention or deportation of hundreds of people arriving at US airports.
One of the largest of Sunday's protests took place at Battery Park in lower Manhattan, within sight of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, long a symbol of welcome to US shore.
Earlier on Saturday, family reunions were blocked, and refugees from war-torn countries were turned away after border agents detained scores of unsuspecting travelers at airports as the US began a chaotic implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to fight terrorism by temporarily stopping citizens of seven nations from entering the country.
By Saturday night, a federal judge in New York had issued an order temporarily blocking the government from deporting people with valid visas who arrived after Trump's travel ban took effect. But confusion remained about who could stay and who will be kept out of the country in the coming weeks.
Confusion Galore At Airports
Among those caught in limbo: Iraqis who had been promised a life in America because of their service to the US military; frail and elderly travelers from Iran and Yemen; and longtime US residents traveling abroad who don't know if they will be allowed to return home.
"What's next? What's going to happen next?" asked Mohammed al Rawi, an Iraqi-born American citizen in the Los Angeles area, after his 69-year-old father, coming to visit his grandchildren in California, was abruptly detained and sent back to Iraq after 12 hours in custody. "Are they going to create camps for Muslims and put us in it?"
Large protests erupted at airports throughout the country where travellers were being held, a day after Trump signed an order banning travel to the US by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Trump also suspended the US refugee programme for 120 days.
After an appeal from civil liberties lawyers, US District Judge Ann Donnelly issued an emergency order on Saturday barring the US from summarily deporting people who had arrived with valid visas or an approved refugee application, saying it would likely violate their legal rights.
The order also caused confusion for longtime, legal US residents travelling abroad.
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.
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