Donald Trump’s Immigration Order Sparks Confusion amidst Detention at Airports

Scientists, business travelers and grandmothers were among those trapped at U.S. airports or diverted in transit to the U.S. Saturday as the impact of an executive order reverberated around the globe.

Citing security concerns, President Donald Trump late Friday suspended the entire U.S. refugee program for four months and banned for 90 days entry into the U.S. of nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somali, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Late Saturday, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction that blocked the deportation of those detained at airports. But the judge stopped short of allowing them into the country and didn’t address the constitutionality of Mr. Trump’s measures.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it would “comply with judicial orders; faithfully enforce our immigration laws, and implement the president’s Executive Orders to ensure that those entering the United States do not pose a threat to our country or the American people.”

The order sowed confusion and despair among travelers and family members Saturday as customs inspectors began implementing it at ports of entry.  Protesters gather Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where some people arriving from Muslim countries were detained. PHOTO: JUSTIN LATE/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

A senior Department of Homeland Security official said Saturday that in the first 23 hours the order was in effect, 375 people had been detained on arrival in the U.S., prevented from boarding flights at their point of departure or intercepted while en route to the U.S.

One man who was about to be placed on a plane leaving the U.S. was allowed to stay after the judge issued her ruling, and ordered government officials to remove the man from the plane during Saturday night’s court hearing. Dozens more were detained at airports around the country. Some were granted waivers and released, government officials said, but others were still waiting for some resolution.

The president’s order also capped the number of refugees that can enter the U.S. this year at 50,000, less than half the number previously committed, and indefinitely halted the entry of refugees from Syria.Few refugees were affected by the order on Saturday because they don’t fly to the U.S. on weekends, according to officials with U.S. resettlement agencies that receive them.