Here’s what President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order means

Their “continued unlawful detention is part of a widespread pattern applied to many refugees and arriving aliens detained after the issuance of the January 27, 2017 executive order”, the lawyers wrote.

The White House said the “extreme vetting” measures would protect the U.S. It drew widespread criticism from US Western allies including France and Germany, Arab American groups, human rights organizations. “He’s the president I am a normal person”, he said. Trump also plans to suspend issuing new visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen for at least 30 days, according to the AP.

There are reports of thousands protesting at airports in Chicago, San Francisco, Virginia and Texas, as well as in NY, where at least 11 refugees were detained earlier today.

Under the stay, none of the travellers held at airports across the United States can be sent back.

Protests over the order erupted at John F. Kennedy airport on Saturday, after two Iraqi refugees who had been granted asylum and were carrying valid visas were detained by border agents and denied entry.

Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who like many other US contractors was eventually allowed safe haven in the United States, was detained overnight Friday along with another Iraqi national at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

A protest at Trump’s order developed at the NY airport on Saturday when it emerged a number of refugees were being detained. That would open the door for Christian refugees from Muslim-majority countries to be accepted in the USA while Muslims fleeing those countries would be excluded. One green card holder was released from detainment earlier today. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations, said the source from a refugee monitor who was briefed by a government official. “They have jobs here and they have vehicles here”, Ms Yegani said.

Trump has faced backlash from Muslims ever since he proposed a complete ban on Muslim immigration before the primaries began.

“It’s basically a death sentence for thousands of people, that have already been in a war-torn country, that have already seen the devastation of war and violence”, Shahid says.

Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway reaffirmed the president’s decision in a Twitter post on Saturday. Promises made, promises kept.

“I’m thinking of all those families who are just like me and are in my situation”, she said.