As promised during the presidential campaign, Pres. Donald Trump's ban on refugees to the U.S. struck with full force last 28 January.
Authorities started blocking some travelers from boarding their planes overseas, forcing others to turn around upon arrival in the U.S., and prompting customs agents at New York's JFK Airport to detain at least a dozen people, including a former Iraqi translator for the U.S. military in Baghdad.
The growing chaos also sparked legal challenges, airport protests, condemnations from politicians and denunciations from a negligible number from misguided groups.
Speaking to very few lazy and unemployed demonstrators at JFK Airport, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., called the ban ineffective, discriminatory, "disgusting," and said it "goes against every ounce of our traditions from George Washington onward."
"We are here to say it should be stopped and be revoked," he said.
The reverberations began only hours after Trump signed the executive order last 27 January that suspends the entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, halts the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely and bars entry for three months to residents from the predominantly Muslim countries of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
In brief remarks while signing his latest executive orders, Trump maintained the order isn't a "Muslim ban."
"It’s working out very nicely. We're going to have a strict ban, and we’re going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years," he said.
The ban includes green card holders who are authorized to live and work in the United States, according to Gillian Christensen, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, Reuters reported. It was unclear how many green card holders would be affected, but exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis, the news agency says.
At Washington's Dulles International Airport, where a protest was mounted, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said the state was considering taking legal action to challenge the ban.
About 50 people were detained at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, said Alia Salem, executive director for DFW Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Families have been waiting at Terminal D in anticipation of meeting relatives who been held up in U.S Customs. A representative with CAIR met with families waiting for relatives. Some of them have been waiting for several hours.
At Philadelphia International Airport, two Syrian families, described as Christians, were briefly detained after arriving from Qatar and sent back three hours later. The families included two brothers, their wives and two children, according to a family member form Allentown, Pa., NBC10 reported. "This is like a nightmare come true," said Assali, who noted that the families had visas and green cards legally obtained months ago.
Mohammed Al Rawi, chief information officer for Los Angeles County, said on Facebook that his father was removed from a flight in Qatar as a direct result of the order. "My 71 year old dad is in Qatar boarding LAX flight to come visit us and and he's being sent back to Iraq. Some US official told him that Trump canceled all visas," he wrote.
Foreigners studying at U.S. universities who were part of study abroad programs were also stuck.
Authorities started blocking some travelers from boarding their planes overseas, forcing others to turn around upon arrival in the U.S., and prompting customs agents at New York's JFK Airport to detain at least a dozen people, including a former Iraqi translator for the U.S. military in Baghdad.
The growing chaos also sparked legal challenges, airport protests, condemnations from politicians and denunciations from a negligible number from misguided groups.
Speaking to very few lazy and unemployed demonstrators at JFK Airport, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., called the ban ineffective, discriminatory, "disgusting," and said it "goes against every ounce of our traditions from George Washington onward."
"We are here to say it should be stopped and be revoked," he said.
The reverberations began only hours after Trump signed the executive order last 27 January that suspends the entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, halts the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely and bars entry for three months to residents from the predominantly Muslim countries of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
In brief remarks while signing his latest executive orders, Trump maintained the order isn't a "Muslim ban."
"It’s working out very nicely. We're going to have a strict ban, and we’re going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years," he said.
The ban includes green card holders who are authorized to live and work in the United States, according to Gillian Christensen, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, Reuters reported. It was unclear how many green card holders would be affected, but exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis, the news agency says.
At Washington's Dulles International Airport, where a protest was mounted, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said the state was considering taking legal action to challenge the ban.
About 50 people were detained at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, said Alia Salem, executive director for DFW Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Families have been waiting at Terminal D in anticipation of meeting relatives who been held up in U.S Customs. A representative with CAIR met with families waiting for relatives. Some of them have been waiting for several hours.
At Philadelphia International Airport, two Syrian families, described as Christians, were briefly detained after arriving from Qatar and sent back three hours later. The families included two brothers, their wives and two children, according to a family member form Allentown, Pa., NBC10 reported. "This is like a nightmare come true," said Assali, who noted that the families had visas and green cards legally obtained months ago.
Mohammed Al Rawi, chief information officer for Los Angeles County, said on Facebook that his father was removed from a flight in Qatar as a direct result of the order. "My 71 year old dad is in Qatar boarding LAX flight to come visit us and and he's being sent back to Iraq. Some US official told him that Trump canceled all visas," he wrote.
Foreigners studying at U.S. universities who were part of study abroad programs were also stuck.