Protest held at John Glenn Airport against travel ban

The order bans refugees and freezes visas for people from these countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. Assi and Fotouhi – both born in Iran and current green card holders- arrived in the US around 6:30 p.m., but were pulled out of the customs line and grilled about their families and their objective in the United States before being released at 10:30 p.m. Bob Brady (D – Pa. 1) joined demonstrators at the airport Saturday calling for intervention on behalf of the immigrants.

Chants of “Omar for president” rang through the crowd and several people thanked the police for not arresting the protesters.

A federal judge late on January 28 granted a stay on deportations of people from the affected countries with a valid visa, after a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other rights organizations.

Sunday’s protest follows a quickly formed event the day before when several travelers were detained or turned away at customs after arriving to Philadelphia.

“He’s just keeping his promises that the people who voted for him wanted”, said the woman, as she held a sign that read ‘Thank you President Trump’.

“It’s hard to protest at an airport [and] avoid getting into a legal pickle”, said Claire Odom, another protester.

There were so many people headed to the airport, it caused delays on Trimet’s MAX service.

Some protesters were refugees themselves and have family members that can no longer come to the US for a better life – including one family who was scheduled to fly next week. “Today is the beginning of a long opposition from us, and our neighbors all over the country”.

“Nobody is hearing you!” traveler Tammy Brown of Portland, Oregon, told a protester as she sat on a bench outside the terminal. Police shut down the street at the global arrivals section in an attempt to control the crowds, reported ABC 7. “As a Muslim, I am so thankful that people are coming from all ages of life in order to protect the rights of their neighbors who are Muslim”.

Chicago was forced to close down all traffic to worldwide Terminal 5 due to a protest there.

Trump’s order had also placed in limbo 40 Atlanta-bound refugees who were already in transit when Trump signed the order. Protestors did eventually move to the plaza. The New York Times reported that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said people with green cards from countries listed in Trump’s immigration order would not be barred from returning to the U.S. “I was here in Birmingham in 1963 when the racial unrest took place”.