As hundreds protest, attorneys seek info on howmany are detained
By 6 p. m. Sunday, a few hundred people had gathered outside Terminal 5 to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration ban. Promising a protest as large as Saturday night’s, Hatem Abudayyah, of the Arab American Action Network, addressed the crowd at a press conference.
“Last night we proved that the power of the people can make a difference and learned late in the evening that the O’Hare detainees had been freed,” Abudayyah said. “Tonight, there will be thousands again out here calling on Trump to rescind his executive order and for the release of all detainees across Chicago and the country.”
His words were met with cheers from the hundreds of people who came to protest. “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” they chanted, carrying signs calling for Trump’s executive order to be canceled.
They cheered as Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia addressed the crowd.
“Cook County is a fair and welcoming county, and we have every intention of remaining that because that’s what makes our county great, and that’s what makes our country great,” he said. “There is no room in our country for any hatred or religious intolerance or discrimination. It is un- American.”
U. S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky was at O’Hare for the second night to oppose the detaining of people under the executive order. She brought up Friday’s observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day to recognize the 6 million Jews who were killed and remember it as a time when “the U. S. sent people back to their death by closing the border.”
Other public officials who came to oppose the immigration ban included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Ald. Ricardo Munoz ( 22nd), state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, U. S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D- Ill., and state Rep. Theresa Mah, who spoke about her experience being raised by an immigrant family.
“I’m the proud daughter and granddaughter of immigrants,” Mah said. “I am also a former history professor, and I know that in 1942, the U. S. locked up 120,000 Japanese- Americans in internment camps because of an executive order. Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it, so let’s remember in the U. S. to welcome American citizens. . . . We are an immigrant country.” On Sunday evening, a few hundred protesters had gathered outside Terminal 5, a group smaller than seen on Saturday. Traffic was able to get through the terminal. Some people went inside to warm up.
Dozens of lawyers inside huddled around tables across from the McDonald’s near the terminal. Attorney Matt Pryor said it is unclear how many people were detained at the airport today, but one person who was detained will be sent back to their country tomorrow.
Attorneys said they are still working to get more information on how many people are being detained and where they are from, and they will return Monday to help other detainees.
Earlier Sunday, friends and relatives waited anxiously at O’Hare Airport for international passengers arriving Sunday.
Some people waited hours without word about their friends and relatives arriving at Terminal 5.
A crowd, waving signs such as “Let them in” welcomed passengers into the terminal.
A Lebanese man with an American passport was held more than three hours before being released about 3: 30 p. m. Sunday. He said more than 20 others were still being detained.
Barius Elhalabi, 19, said agents asked him, “Do you love your country?”
Elhalabi said everyone was told cellphones would be confiscated if used.
A Syrian family with three small children waited hours for three travelers, all with U. S. green cards. One of the three graduated from Loyola University- Chicago in December, his family said. He was accepted to dental school at Indiana.