Protests continued on Sunday in the Tampa Bay area and across the U.S. after President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily barring citizens from seven largely Muslim countries, as well as all refugees, from entering the country.
That order was blocked in part by a federal judge.
The judge’s order, issued in Brooklyn Saturday night, was addressing a lawsuit brought by two Iraqi men detained at JFK Airport in New York. Judge Ann Donnelly issued a stay that would temporarily prevent federal agents from deporting anyone who entered the U.S. with a valid visa.
Three additional federal district courts have issued orders of more limited scope pertaining to President Trump's executive order on immigration.
Trump, for his part, tweeted an ardent defense of his immigration freeze Sunday.
Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017
Meanwhile at major international airports, both across the U.S. and around the world, that decision did little to ease the maelstrom of protests, outraged politicians and lawyers scrambling to offer legal help to refugees who had been blocked or detained.
In Tampa, protesters who were turned away at Tampa International Airport on Saturday night regathered and celebrated at the corner of Kennedy and Westshore Boulevards, according to Fox 13 News.
On Sunday, a protest held at Ybor City’s Centennial Park to support immigrants seeking asylum atracted several hundred people, according to the Tampa Bay Times. And a student group at the University of South Florida is planning a similar demonstration Monday on the Tampa campus.
Across Florida on Sunday, hundreds of people showed up at international airports in both Orlando and Miami. WLRN reported that protesters were heard chanting: "KKK is not Christian! Islam is not ISIS! America is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic. We love, we do not hate!" The demonstration there did grow tense when police were trying to keep protesters from blocking traffic.
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