Thousands protest at Philly airport

PHILADELPHIA >> From political leaders to relatives of Holocaust survivors to church members wanting to house Syrian refugees, thousands of people converged at the Philadelphia International Airport Sunday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump’s executive order banning millions of people from seven countries from entering the United States, which went into effect Saturday.

Estimates indicated as many as 4,000 people were involved in the protests as throngs streamed into the airport, many of them pouring off trains. Others came by cars, causing congestion at the airport. Some abandoned their vehicles and made their way on foot to the international terminal, Terminal A West, where the demonstration played out for about an hour until the masses moved and marched down to Terminal F.

A federal judge has stayed the ban for now after a motion was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, but thousands at the airport Sunday wanted to voice their opposition with chants of “Let them in! Let them in!,” “No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary for All!” and “We are a Sanctuary City!” and a sea of signs from “Steve Jobs Was the Son of an Immigrant” to “We are All Immigrants” to “Love” and everything in between, spanning a large section of the street outside Terminal A West. Reports fluctuated throughout the day about people being detained, then released at national airports.

It was the second consecutive day of protests at Philadelphia International after the president signed his executive order. Airports across the country were the targets of large demonstrations as protesters decried the action.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who is a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Trump did not consult with his committee.

“The idea that an ISIS fighter is going to hunker down for two years in a Syrian refugee camp in order to have maybe an outside chance to get here is ludicrous,” he said.

RICK KAUFFMAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Protesters gather outside the American Airlines arrival terminal at the Philadelphia International Airport to protest an executive order denying immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries entry into the United States, recently signed by President...