Protests against Executive Order 13769
In late January and early February 2017, during protests against Executive Order 13769, commonly referred to as the “Muslim ban,” thousands of people gathered at various airports in the United States and around the world to protest the attempt by the Trump administration to prevent the prohibition of refugees and visitors from seven countries considered by the administration to be unsafe.
On February 2, thousands of Comcast employees in Portland, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Sunnyvale walked off the job in protest of the executive order.
[36] Throughout the day, state representatives, Nydia Velázquez and Jerry Nadler were present to help constituents affected by the ban.
[33] Other groups involved in the protest included Make the Road New York, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), Black Latino Asian Caucus members.
[47] However, lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and Zachary Manfredi from Yale's Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic caution that individuals detained at the airports could still be transferred to different detention facilities.
[49] On January 29, about two thousand people gathered outside of the domestic terminal at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport to protest the ban and the detention of 11 airplane passengers taken into custody the previous day.
Civil rights activist John Lewis and Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams participated in the protest.
[54] Protestors arrived from across the Baltimore-Washington D.C. region, and were of every ethnicity and religion including a noticeable presence of religious Jews from Pikesville, Maryland.
[61] A smaller group of counter-protesters also showed up at the airport, and the resulting clash caused the road next to Terminal 3 to be shut down for an hour.
[62] Later on Sunday, World Way was blocked when protesters sat down and refused to move until all people detained in the airport were released.
[70] California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and Google co-founder Sergey Brin attended the SFO protest.
The demonstration had the support of Governor Tom Wolf who had met with Syrian refugee families whose relatives had been sent back to the Middle East after over the weekend.
[94] While there was an ordinance against marching at the airport, no tickets had been issued by 4:15 p.m.[95] Portland also had around 400 protesters who gathered at the Terry Schrunk Plaza on Monday.
[96] City commissioners, Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish, and staff from Senator Jeff Merkley's office attended.
[98] The crowd in Seattle on January 28, which grew to more than three thousand, was supported at an on-site news conference by numerous elected officials, including Governor Jay Inslee.
[101] Link light rail service to the airport's station was halted for 30 minutes during the protest at the request of Port of Seattle Police.
It was later restored by Sound Transit, the service's owner, amid criticism that the request limited the freedom of assembly at the airport, a public space.
[113] More than a thousand people marched near Discovery Green (which at the time hosted Super Bowl Live) to demonstrate against the executive order.
[26] Senator Cory Booker was also at the protest at the Dulles International Airport,[28] as well as Democratic representatives John Delaney, Gerry Connolly, and Don Beyer.
[119] House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, Senators Chuck Schumer, Joe Manchin, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley and Al Franken along with Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Nydia Velázquez, Andre Carson, and Joseph Crowley spoke at the rally.
[120] More than two thousand people attended the "Rally for Refugees" at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on February 1, 2017, including Congressman Hank Johnson.
[8] The Los Angeles Times reported that "Trump's actions and tough talk on a number of issues in his first two weeks have deeply unsettled many Germans.
"[8] The protest was organized by a group called The Coalition and also targeted Trump's planned wall between Mexico and the United States.
[122] Merkel also touched on the importance of welcoming those fleeing war, saying the Travel Ban "contradicts the base concept of international aid for refugees.
[130] Another demonstration was led by Amnesty International activists where they unfurled a banner on Vauxhall Bridge in Central London that said "Human Rights Nightmare" and had Trump's portrait on it.
"[131] In response, Larry Klayman sued Obama, alleging his comments incited a protester at the Los Angeles International Airport.
[132] Many other celebrities reacted to the travel ban on social media including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bette Midler, Stephen Colbert, Morgan Freeman, and Mia Farrow.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also posted a tweet saying, "This is not the first time the court has been wrong, or has allowed official racism and xenophobia to continue rather than standing up to it.
"[139] In another Tweet on September 15, 2017, Trump said "The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific - but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!
[148] Small businesses and bodegas in New York City owned by Yemeni immigrants closed from noon to 8 p.m. on February 2 in protest against the executive order.
