BOSTON — These are the new front lines of the fight for democratic values in America: airports, public squares and courtrooms late into the night.
After President Trump signed an executive order Friday temporarily banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees from entering the United States, impromptu protests bloomed at airports across the country Saturday as immigration attorneys furiously filed petitions to free their blindsided clients from detainment.
At Logan International Airport, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh joined immigrant and refugee groups to condemn the executive order. Protesters offered a cacophonous welcome as exhausted travelers emerged from their surprise limbo — and as national organizations including the ACLU challenged the ban in various courts.
A federal judge in Brooklyn issued a stay to protect those detained at airports from deportation, but the Department of Homeland Security said it will continue to enforce the order.
“I’m here because this is not who we are as America,” said Mayor Walsh at Logan. “This is not who we should be or who we are as a country.”
Demonstrators are pictured in Boston’s Copley Square on Jan. 29, 2017, protesting President Donald Trump’s executive order banning immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Signs read “Love thy Muslim neighbor” and “It does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty” at a demonstration in Boston’s Copley Square on January 29, 2017. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Ahmed Akoad, 12, attends a protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration order in Boston’s Copley Square, on Jan. 29, 2017. Akoad is American but his parents, who were also at the protest, are from Sudan, one of the seven majority-Muslim countries included in Trump’s immigration ban. “I wanted to incorporate something really American with the Arabic language,” he said. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Noor Traina, 17, holds a sign that reads “Proud daughter of Libyan immigrants” in Boston’s Copley Square. “One of the countries in the ban is Libya and that means my family won’t be able to visit me in the States. The only way that I could see them is if I go back to Libya, which presents a dangerous situation for me,” she said. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
A sign at the demonstration in Boston’s Copley Square reads “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” an excerpt from the Statue of Liberty poem. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Demonstrators in Boston’s Copley Square protest President Donald Trump’s immigration ban on January 29, 2017. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
A sign reads “Love thy Muslim neighbor” at the protest in Boston’s Copley Square against President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Nawar Muhsin came to the U.S. as an Iraqi refugee 24 years ago. “The country welcomed me and gave me a chance for a better life, and I want that chance to everyone that is affected by the wars in the Middle East,” she said at the protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration ban. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Demonstrators in Boston’s Copley Square protest President Donald Trump’s immigration ban on January 29, 2017. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Somali-immigrant Rukia Tahlil (center) has been living in the United States for 23 years. “My country was going through a civil war at the time, so we came here for safety. But since Donald Trump was elected and citizens of America turned to hate, I don’t feel safe here anymore,” she said. With her cousins and friends, she protested against President Donald Trump immigration ban against people from seven majority-Muslim countries, including her own. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
From left: Jasmin Riad, Noor Traina and Zara Majidi protested against President Donald Trump’s executive order in Boston’s Copley Square on Jan. 29, 2017. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Hibo Moallim (left) was born in Kenya, but her family is originally from Somalia, one of the seven majority-Muslim countries affected by Trump’s ban. During a protest in Boston’s Copley Square, she and her cousins led the crowd singing “This is what the democracy looks like,” and other chants. “This ban goes against everything America stands for,” she said. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Two Muslim girls take part in protest against Donald Trump’s ban on seven majority-Muslim countries in Boston’s Copley Square on Jan. 29, 2017. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
The debate on immigration has become extremely polarized. How do you write stories that say something new? Find people who’ve never been asked about their experiences. Pictured: protesters in Boston’s Copley Square on Jan. 29, 2017, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order known as the “Muslim ban.” (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
A crowd gathers in protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, in front of the Boston Public Library on Jan. 29, 2017. Signs read “Refugees welcome” and “Jesus was a refugee.” (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
A sign reads “We welcome refugees” at a demonstration in Boston’s Copley Square on January 29, 2017. (Photo by Giulia Afiune/GroundTruth)
Walsh had promised Wednesday to open City Hall to protect Boston’s immigrants from the Trump administration following Trump’s executive orders blocking federal funding to “sanctuary cities” (Boston is one) and ordering construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“If people want to live here, they’ll live here. They can use my office. They can use any office in this building,” Walsh said, vowing safety in the face of a “destructive and un-American threat.”
At Copley Square on Sunday, more than 17,000 people were expected at an event organized by the Council on American-Islamic relations. The focal point: a plaque memorializing Lebanese-American author Khalil Gibran.
Looking to build on momentum from the airport protests and a series of rulings against what has been called the “Muslim ban,” the Copley demonstrators joined more than 30 other gatherings across the country.
Two federal judges in Boston issued a restraining order limiting Trump’s ability to enforce the ban on behalf of two Iranian professors, and the International Refugee Assistance Project immediately advised anyone traveling to the US on a green card to fly through Boston Logan.
Meanwhile, detainees remained in custody at several airports and White House chief of staff Reince Priebus suggested on “Face the Nation” that Trump would amend the policy to exclude “green card” holders but could expand the ban to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan. Affected countries also pledged retaliation for American visitors.
