CHICAGO — Activist groups and elected officials drew hundreds of demonstrators to an "emergency protest" at O'Hare Airport's international terminal Saturday in response to President Donald Trump's executive action restricting travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.
Trump's order, signed on Friday, suspends all U.S. refugee resettlement for 120 days, bars Syrian refugees indefinitely, and blocks travel into the U.S. for 90 days for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It will also stop green card holders from those seven countries from entering the U.S. again if they travel abroad.
Around 8:15 p.m., a federal judge in Brooklyn temporarily halted the deportation of visa-holders arriving at airports around the country.
A Facebook event that organized the protest saw more than a thousand RSVPs within hours of being posted by the Arab American Action Network Saturday afternoon.
Elected leaders at the local, county and state level reported joining in the demonstration. Aldermen Ameya Pawar (47th), Deb Mell (33rd), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), Harry Osterman (48th) and John Arena (45th) all attended, according to organizers.
The irony. Under the flag of every nation. Shame. #ShutItDown pic.twitter.com/rUp2f07pIR
— (((Ameya Pawar))) (@Alderman_Pawar) January 29, 2017
Cook County Board Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who represents a large slice of the city's North Side, said multiple travelers were detained at the airport Saturday.
Refugees/Green Card holders detained at O'Hare. Emergency Action/protest tonight 6:00. Term. 5. @CommsUnited @TweetingPriest @Fightin47th
— Bridget Gainer (@BridgetGainer) January 28, 2017
Hundreds of demonstrators amassed at the airport, both inside and outside the arrivals terminal.
O'Hare now. pic.twitter.com/8pHIXK1u9t
— Keith Phipps (@kphipps3000) January 29, 2017
O'Hare now. pic.twitter.com/8pHIXK1u9t
— Keith Phipps (@kphipps3000) January 29, 2017
Thousands protesting Trump's #MuslimBan have all arrival traffic at Chicago's O'Hare Airport SHUTDOWN | #NoBanNoWall pic.twitter.com/RuD49FR3Jx
— agitator in chief (@soit_goes) January 29, 2017
Since a swell of protesters gathered at John F. Kennedy Airport late Saturday morning, similar demonstrations have cropped up at international airport terminals around the country, including Dallas, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
At 9:40 p.m. Saturday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a statement saying Trump's executive order had "tarnished America’s standing as a beacon of hope for the free world," and calling for the release of green card holders who were detained.
Protesters at O'Hare cheered as travelers were released from custody one by one, until around 10 p.m., when volunteer lawyers reported that all the travelers had been freed.
Cheers erupt as lawyers announce "everyone detained as a result of exec order has been released" pic.twitter.com/JgPnqfPP7b
— Paris Schutz (@paschutz) January 29, 2017
Cheers go up at O'Hare as attorneys announce all the detainees have been released, pic.twitter.com/3Z2ONADRcr
— Stacy St. Clair (@StacyStClair) January 29, 2017
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