CHICAGO—Late Saturday evening, a federal judge in New York dealt a massive blow to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the entry of individuals from multiple predominately Muslim countries for 90 days and banning the travel of people from Syria indefinitely, by issuing a stay order.

The Judge’s decision, which orders that those in detention who have proper legal status cannot be deported back to their country of origin until Feb. 21 when another hearing is scheduled, offered a sigh of relief to the numerous lawyers who flocked to airports across the nation to help defend those who were detained as part of Trump’s executive action.

But throughout the evening at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, those who were detained over the course of the day because of Trump’s executive order were released periodically, even though the order doesn’t force those in detention to be immediately released.
“We have no idea [how The Trump Administration will respond to the release of detainees from the banned countries,]” said Kathleen Vannucci, one of the members of the American Immigration Lawyer Association who was part of the cadre of lawyer assembled at O’Hare, where nearly 2,000 people gathered to protest Trump’s action. “It will be interesting to see what the directions are from Washington and what happens.”

Trump’s executive order—which claims that the U.S. should not “admit those who would not support the constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law”—was an attempt to make good on Trump’s vow during the campaign to implement  “extreme vetting” of Muslim refugees and to suspend Muslim immigration “until we figure out what is going on.” (Although Trump claims the latter isn’t true)

But his vows, and his subsequent actions, were painted by critics as being “un-American” at a press conference and protest held outside O’Hare’s Terminal Five, the international terminal, which The Sun-Times reported was shut down after protesters flooded in from outside and ended up protesting for hours on end.

Marty Castro, immediate past Chair of the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights, decried Trump’s executive action at the press conference and condemned his executive order, accusing Trump’s actions of being the  “most inhuman of any president of the United States.”

“This morning, before I left D.C., I was at Arlington National Cemetery. And as I looked at those tombstones, they represented every creed and color of people. Americans from around the world who came to this country, or for whom this country moved its borders. There were crosses. There were stars of David. There were crescents. There was every form of religious beliefs in those hallowed grounds,” Castro said “That is America, not the America Trump is trying to recreate.”

President Trump’s executive action on refugees came in a week where Trump signed many executive orders and memorandums signifying his intention on keeping his word from the campaign—from initiating work on his controversial border wall, to memorandums indicating his friendlier approach to energy producer—assuring supports he will not stray from his intentions.

Citizens who landed in the U.S. from Sudan, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Iraq and Syria were detained upon arrival to the United States, some of whom have duel citizenship or a have held green cards and have been permitted to live in the U.S. for years.

Oaklawn resident Abdulsalam Mused, 67, has lived in the U.S. as a green card holder for 18 years and hasn’t returned to his native Yemen in 22 years. But on his return from Saudi Arabia, Mused was held for 6 hours and said that this was the first time he felt like he was “considered as a terrorist” here in the U.S.

“I am fighting against the terrorist all my life,” Mused, who noted that he was here on political asylum, said. “I am here because I [am] scared from the terrorists in my country, and here they think I’m [a] terrorist.”

Mused boarded his flight after the executive order was signed, but presumed he was in the clear because he “thought he already was a resident,” his son translated. Mused was released prior to the judges stay decision.

While many of the critics of Trump have referred to the executive action as his ban on Muslims, Trump repeatedly rebutted their claims. Trump—who remained largely quiet throughout the duration of the protest—posted on Twitter the next morning that “Our Country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW” and hasn’t shown much signs of rescinding the executive order.

Monday morning, Trump went on Twitter to argue that “that all is going well with very few problems” placing the blame elsewhere.
“Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at Airports caused by Delta computer outage… protestors and the tears of Sen. [Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer.”

U.S. customs didn’t respond to multiple phone calls from The LION requesting an interview and multiple inquires about how they determined who to let go. But according to ABC News, 81 waivers were granted because of special immigration status or legal residence in the U.S., citing an anonymous Senior Homeland Security official.

In Chicago, though, the cadre of lawyers assembled estimated that there were under 20 people who were detained, but the estimate kept shifting throughout the night. But at around 10:21 p.m., the lawyers made a huge announcement: everyone of those detained at O’Hare “that they know of” were released, sparking widespread celebration within the terminal.

The crowd largely dispersed afterwards, but on Sunday the protestors gathered yet again to try and further pressure Trump into taking action. But the president seems steadfast in his executive action, and as long as that is the case, the Department of Homeland Security says they are going to keeping do what they are ordered to do.