LOS ANGELES (AP) - Large groups of protesters descended on California airports, blocking traffic and marching through an airline terminal to add their voices to the outrage over President Donald Trump’s order that bars nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
About 300 marched through Bradley Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Saturday night after holding a candlelight vigil outside the airport.
Once they left the terminal, the diverse group of protesters rallied in front of the building and expressed their opposition to Trump’s executive order with chants such as “Not My Ban,” ’’Yes We Can” and “Say It Loud, Say It Clear, Refugees Are Welcome Here.” One protester held a sign saying “Mexicans for Muslim.”
Some of those arriving at LAX were coming to visit the U.S., and others had lived here for years.
Dr. Yakdan Al Qaisi, a 62-year-old physician from Bakersfield, said his wife was detained for hours at the airport Saturday after she made a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The pair are British citizens and have lived in the U.S. for more than two decades. Both have green cards.
“I expect this to happen everywhere in the world - except this country,” he said. “But it looks like this country is no different from anywhere else.”
Lawyer Talia Inlender said an Iranian woman scheduled to take her naturalization oath in February was detained after arriving on a flight from Amsterdam with her 1-year-old American son. She said U.S. authorities were not allowing lawyers access to the waiting room where travelers were held.
Meanwhile, hundreds more protesters blocked the street outside the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport to voice their opposition to Trump’s order.
Mozhgan Mostafavi waited inside Saturday for her 80-year-old father, who was traveling from Iran to have hip surgery and visit with family for his grandson’s birthday. He has a green card and has been here many times, she said, but his plane landed at 1 p.m. and as evening fell he had not emerged.
“I don’t know any Iranians who have been in a terrorist attack,” she said. “It’s so dehumanizing. It’s so insulting. I grew up during the Revolution in Iran and I feel that same suffocation. It’s hard to breathe.”
Late Saturday night, an exhausted Abdollah Mostafavi, 80, was released six hours after his flight arrived in San Francisco from Frankfurt. Pushing a cart with several suitcases and a cane, Mostafavi slowly made his way out of an automatic door being guarded by at least five Customs and Border Protection agents. Four protesters holding signs that read “All Are Welcome Here” stood nearby, smiling. His 8-year-old grandson ran to hug him while his daughter and son-in-law brought him a wheelchair and gave him space.
“I’m so happy he’s finally out. He says he’s very tired,” said Mozhgan Mostafavi, holding back tears, and speaking Farsi with her father.
Five hours after their families landed in a flight from Istanbul, relatives of four people from Iran and Syria sat on the airport floor, checking their phones and waiting for their parents to be released.
Stefan Shahen, 44, moved from Syria to California 11 years ago. He was waiting for his 62-year-old mother to be released. She also has a green card and lives in a village near Homs that was recently liberated from extremists by the Syrian government allowing her to travel.
“I’m for securing the country but not in a stupid way,” said Shahen, who lives in Chico, California. “She has a legal permit to stay. She didn’t do anything wrong. It’s against the law to hold her, so why are they doing this?”
San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee issued a statement Saturday night praising U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York for issuing an emergency order temporarily barring the U.S. from deporting people from nations subject to Trump’s travel ban.
“I commend the judge that granted the emergency stay today, allowing Muslim immigrants with valid visas to enter the United States. As the son of Chinese immigrants, I am disgusted by the President’s Executive Order to target the Muslim community and ban immigrants from entering the United States,” Lee said.
Several dozen protesters chanted outside the San Diego International Airport chanting “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.” Motorists honked in support as they drove past.
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Saxon reported from Los Angeles. Rodriguez reported from San Francisco.
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