Protesters gather at St. Louis airport to challenge immigration order
Hundreds of protestors gathered at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on Sunday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump’s order preventing citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The protest is one of several that erupted at airports nationwide over the weekend in response to the order, which caused officials to detain travelers at airports, and in some cases, forcing them to return to where they came from. The ban applies to individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The director of the St. Louis airport originally said protestors would have to limit their numbers to 50 and would have to stay on a sidewalk at Terminal 1 for one hour, according to the Post-Dispatch. Though the protest remained peaceful, the numbers quickly exceeded the original limit, with airport officials saying they decided to not limit the number of protestors after all.
Protestors overstayed the time limit, as well, according to KMOV. Airport police estimated protesters numbered upwards of 800.
The Riverfront Times posted a live video of the protest on Facebook.
Protesters gather at Lambert Airport to demonstrate against Trump's Muslim ban
Posted by Riverfront Times on Sunday, January 29, 2017
Two federal judges, one in Brooklyn and another in Virginia, blocked Trump’s order Saturday night.
“Our own government presumably approved their entry to the country,” said Judge Ann Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay took to Twitter on Sunday to express his support of immigrants.
Two-thirds of Syrian refugees in #stl are under 8 years old. #stl has grown stronger & more diverse by welcoming refugees & immigrants #fgs
— MayorSlay.com (@MayorSlay) January 29, 2017
On Saturday afternoon, more than 200 St. Louisans rallied downtown to support immigrants and to protest Trump’s order, according to St. Louis Public Radio.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
This story was originally published January 29, 2017 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Protesters gather at St. Louis airport to challenge immigration order."