US President Donald Trump’s executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim countries for four months, refugees for three months, and Syrians indefinitely has become known as the “Muslim Ban,” and everyone is talking about it.
Even more importantly, many Americans are doing something about it. From a court case filed by the ACLU to protests at airports across the country, Americans are showing their displeasure with their 45th president’s actions.
Politicians are speaking out
Former Secretary of State and Democratic Nominee to the 2016 Presidential Race Hilary Clinton has voiced her opinion.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer expressed how sad he was with the tweet above.
Republican Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania (who represents a large Syrian community), to NYT Reporter Jonathan Martin:
“I urge the administration to halt enforcement of this order until a more thoughtful and deliberate policy can be instated.”
Even Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has commented:
“Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all. Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe. A very sad week, and more to come with the lives of over 600,000 Dreamers here in a America under imminent threat. It is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity.”
Protesting the ban
Protesters have gathered outside nearly a dozen airports across the US since the “Muslim Ban” went into effect, with some 2,000 gathering outside New York’s JFK International Airport hours after a dozen travelers were detained there Sunday.
(New Yorkers have been on top of it: they also demonstrated in the city mere hours after the ban was announced)
So far protesters have gathered in New York, Washington DC, New Jersey, Boston, Colorado, Portland, Chicago, and Dallas – and protests are scheduled for Sunday in Orlando, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Washington, and Chicago.
And citizens aren’t standing alone: CNN reported that Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe joined protesters at Dulles International Airport, outside Washington, DC. “This executive order is antithetical to the values that make America great, and it will make our country less safe,” he said in a statement.
New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has also come out in support of the protests, going so far as to instruct state police and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to “assist with security and transportation for protesters.”
“The people of New York will have their voices heard,” Cuomo said.
Legal measures
Following a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Saturday night a federal judge in New York blocked the deportation of people stranded in the US under the new ban.
“The petitioners have a strong likelihood of success in establishing that the removal of the petitioner and other similarly situated violates their due process and equal protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution,” U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly wrote in her decision.
WE SAID THIS: What other reactions have you seen?