On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order focused on immigration that suspended the admission of refugees to the United States for 120 days. The order specifically barred Syrian refugees from entering entirely, and put a 90-day block on those traveling from countries with primarily Muslim populations (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). The order also bizarrely targeted green card holders from the listed countries, meaning previously vetted and approved residents would be barred from reentering the US. Within hours, airport authorities around the nation had begun to detain travelers, including Olympians, foreign politicians, small children, and people seeking asylum.
The public’s response was swift and sweeping. In cities and airports around the nation, protesters joined together with makeshift signs, chanting for the release of detainees and calling for action against Trump. Soon major airports like New York’s John F. Kennedy and Chicago’s O’Hare were swarmed with demonstrators, clogging entrances and forming peaceful standoffs with police. While Americans voiced their disdain for Trump’s racist and xenophobic policies, lawyers from the ACLU went to work through legal channels, eventually scoring a momentary victory against the seemingly unconstitutional policy. At around 8:45 p.m. Saturday, the federal court for the Eastern District of New York issued an emergency stay halting deportations under the executive order. Ann M. Donnelly, the judge who made the ruling, said that sending travelers back could cause “irreparable harm.”
But before the ruling, citizens’ voices were being heard loudly and clearly. The resistance to Trump certainly seems to be in full swing, and this is what it looked like yesterday in America.
Chicago
A protester at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Joshua Lott / AFP / Getty Images
Thousands gather at O'hare International Airport in Chicago. Dakota Sillyman / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Protesters at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. Dakota Sillyman / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Demonstrators protest agaist President Trump's executive immigration ban at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Joshua Lott / AFP / Getty Images
Thousands fill the street outside Terminal 5 of O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Max Herman / NurPhoto / Getty Images
People link arms blocking traffic on the road outside Terminal 5 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Max Herman / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Protesters in at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Joshua Lott / AFP / Getty Images
New York
A protester at JFK. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
The crowd at JFK Airport. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
A crowd of protesters gathers outside of the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse as a judge hears a challenge against President Donald Trump's executive ban on immigration. Yana Paskova / Getty Images
Protesters at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, NY. Jordan Oplinger
Protesters rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
Protesters at JFK Airport. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
Protesters rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
Protesters at JFK Airport. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
Protesters at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, NY. Jordan Oplinger
San Francisco & Los Angeles
Activists stage a rally against President Donald Trump's 90-days ban of entry on 7 Muslim-majority countries at the San Francisco International Airport. Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
A demonstrator takes a photograph during a rally against Muslim immigration ban at San Francisco International Airport. Stephen Lam / Getty Images
Demonstrators rally against a ban on Muslim immigration at Los Angeles International Airport. Aydin Palabiyikoglu / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
Philadelphia, Dallas, Denver
Sofia Fenner protests the Muslim Ban of President Donald Trump at the International Arrivals of Philadelphia International Airport. Bastiaan Slabbers / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Protesters gather to denounce President Donald Trump's executive order that bans certain immigration, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. G. Morty Ortega / Getty Images
Amal Kassir, a Syrian American, leads the crowd during an immigration protest at Denver International Airport. Andy Cross / The Denver Post / Getty Images
Boston
Tori Furtado, from Boston, kneels down to write a sign that reads, 'Love has no borders.' John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe / Getty Images
Hundreds of people gathered for a rally at the Chinatown Gate in Boston. John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe / Getty Images
Protesters at Logan International Airport. Scott Eisen / Getty Images
A protester holds up a sign that reads 'I Love My Muslim Neighbors' during a demonstration against the new ban on immigration issued by President Donald Trump at Logan International Airport. Scott Eisen / Getty Images
