For the second day in a row demonstrators gathered at the San Diego International Airport to protest a travel ban signed into law by President Trump. The executive order, put into action Friday, bans travel from seven Middle Eastern countries – although the specific exceptions have been a bit unclear.
The crowd gathered in front of the international terminal had grown from around 300 during Saturday's protest, to what appeared to be upwards of 2,000 protesters Sunday.
“I’m here because I’m tired of Donald Trump uttering the words that Muslims are not welcome here," psychology doctoral student Muhammad told NBC 7. "The words 'Make America Great Again' have brought on so much hate to the Muslim population and to the refugees and so we’re here, banded together unified – Muslims, Women, LGBT, Native Americans - we’re all here to say to Donald Trump that we’re here to make a statement to him.”
The San Diego protest is one of many across the country, including LAX, New York, Boston, Seattle and Dallas just to name a few.
The temporary bans also suspends the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and indefinitely bans Syrian refugees from entering the U.S.
In the last 24 hours there have been refugees and visa-holding immigrants detained at airports across the country stuck in legal limbo.
Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly eased a key part of the executive order, saying the people from affected countries who hold green cards will not be prevented from returning to the United States.
Sunday, President Trump defended the order, saying in part:
“The seven countries named in the Executive Order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror. To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion - this is about terror and keeping our country safe."
Even though some of the detainees have been released, some protesters say they won’t leave until the entire executive action is lifted.
The airport confirmed that no one has been detained at Lindbergh Field.
The airport suggests anyone traveling to the airport to give themselves extra time because the protest, although peaceful, is slowing down traffic near terminal 2.
The San Diego ACLU sent out a Tweet advising those affected of their rights.
