The Latest: Cuomo: 6 still in detention at Kennedy airport
By Associated Press
Jan 29, 2017 2:43 PM CST
Protesters rally against President Trump's refugee ban at Miami International Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017.President Donald Trump’s immigration order sowed more confusion and outrage across the country Sunday, with travelers detained at airports, panicked families searching for relatives and protesters...   (Associated Press)

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump, his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and other immigration actions (all times local):

8:35 p.m.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says six people barred from entering the U.S. because of President Donald Trump's travel ban remained in detention at Kennedy Airport on Sunday afternoon.

Immigration lawyers worked through the day to try and gain the release of several people being held at the airport, with some success.

ACLU attorney Andre Segura said at least seven detainees were released Saturday morning, with more people expected to be freed in the afternoon.

Some people who were initially told they would be deported were allowed to enter the U.S.

They included a 21-year-old woman with dual Iraqi and Jordanian citizenship who had come to the U.S. to be with her fiance and a 67-year-old woman with Yemeni citizenship who had come to live with her son because she was very ill.

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8:20 p.m.

Protesters shouting "Ban Trump" have descended on Miami International Airport to show their opposition to President Donald Trump's travel ban.

Protester Rowan Vaquez said the ban "hit me really deeply" because her family emigrated from Venezuela to avoid political persecution.

Juan Gonzalez attended the demonstration to show Trump that "we're not going to accept the terrible things he's doing." Gonzalez is from Puerto Rico and works in Miami.

Trump's order placed a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen and a 120-day suspension of the U.S. refugee program. Syrians are indefinitely blocked from entry.

Other protests were scheduled for Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

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8:15 p.m.

Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered outside the White House to protest President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

Holding signs with slogans such as "No Ban, No Wall," and "We are all immigrants in America," the diverse crowd chanted and cheered in support of Muslims and other refugees.

Vocal and expressive, the crowd was alternately solemn and warm in expressing peaceful solidarity with refugees affected by Trump's order.

Maryam Kanna is a 24-year-old Iraqi-American who lives in Arlington, Virginia. She calls the executive order "totally alienating." Kanna says she worries about her uncle, a British citizen, and her cousins in Canada, who may no longer be able to enter the U.S.

Protests were also reported in St. Louis, Minneapolis; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; and Portland, Maine.

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8:10 p.m.

Protesters are streaming into New York City's Battery Park to demand an end to President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven Muslim nations.

The big crowd gathered Sunday near the ferries that carry tourists to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the place where 12 million people entered the United States in the 20th century.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer addressed the crowd, saying, "We are gonna win this fight everybody!"

People held signs with slogans including "America was built by refugees," and "Muslim ban is un-American."

The rally followed a night of big demonstrations at New York's Kennedy Airport, where thousands of people spontaneously gathered to demand the release of detained travelers.

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8:05 p.m.

A Republican congressman from Utah says he doesn't understand why the Trump administration is targeting legal permanent residents with his new policy to block immigration from several Muslim-majority countries.

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah said Sunday it would be "wrong" if Trump is targeting people based on their religion.

He said that enhanced vetting is needed for people traveling to the United States from "certain countries," but that legal permanent residents are in "a different category."

Chaffetz said, "I don't understand what they're trying to do in those categories. People that have a green card supposedly already have been vetted. So there needs to be some further clarification."

The congressman addressed reporters in Palm Springs, California during a meeting of the Koch political network.

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7:55 p.m.

More than 100 protesters and dozens of immigration attorneys have gathered at the international arrivals terminal at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, cheering people arriving from Muslim countries. The crowd chanted "No ban, no wall" and other slogans, and at one point sang "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Syed Moktadir is a 45-year-old management consultant from Sterling, Virginia. He says Trump's order banning entry to the United States from seven Muslim countries has sparked fear in Muslims in the United States and abroad.

Moktadir, a Muslim who immigrated from Bangladesh, said his 84-year-old father, is currently in Bangladesh. Though his father is a U.S. citizen, he says he's concerned about whether his father will be able to return.

Moktadir says Trump's order is "internationally giving us a very bad name."

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7:45 p.m.

Authorities say six people were arrested at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where people gathered to protest President Donald Trump's executive order regarding citizens of seven Muslim nations.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a news release that the six were arrested Saturday night. They say about 50 protesters formed two groups with the first group protesting Trump's immigration order, followed by a second group that protested community-related issues.

Police said the protesters were asked to leave because of public safety concerns, and six people refused. They were arrested and now face charges that include trespassing and resist, obstruct and delay.

Trump's executive order barred citizens of seven Muslim nations from entering the United States.

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7:40 p.m.

The attorneys general of 15 states and the District of Columbia are issuing a joint statement condemning as unconstitutional President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

The attorneys general say that religious liberty has been a bedrock principle of the country and no president can change that truth.

The states taking part in the joint statement issued Sunday are Washington, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Virginia, Oregon, Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois, New Mexico, Iowa, Maine and Maryland.

The attorneys general say they expect Trump's executive order to be struck down, but in the meantime they'll work to make sure as few as possible suffer as a result of the order.

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7:30 p.m.

The conservative Koch political network is condemning President Donald Trump's plan to crack down on immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

Network co-chairman Brian Hooks said in a statement released Sunday, "The travel ban is the wrong approach and will likely be counterproductive." He added, "We believe it is possible to keep Americans safe without excluding people who wish to come here to contribute and pursue a better life for their families."

Hooks made the comments as billionaire industrialist Charles Koch and hundreds of his network's major donors gather for a semi-annual conference in Palm Springs, California.

The Koch network is among the most influential players in the conservative movement and has strong ties in the Trump administration, particularly with Vice President Mike Pence.

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7:20 p.m.

Demonstrators have gathered again at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to protest President Donald Trump's executive order barring citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from entry into the U.S.

An estimated 200 people held signs and chanted "Let them go!" as they awaited word Sunday on what state representatives for the Council on American-Islamic Relations say are nine people detained at the airport. The council says the majority are Iranian.

Other protests are planned for other parts of Texas over Trump's executive order, including in Houston and at the airport in Austin.

Protesters also are rallying Sunday at Miami International Airport and elsewhere around the country.

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7:00 p.m.

Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union say they are still trying to determine how many people are detained in the U.S. as a result of President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project deputy director Lee Gelernt told reporters in a conference call Sunday that there is still a state of confusion over the status of detainees and the rules for entering the country.

He said lawyers are waiting for the government to give them a list of names of people who have been detained.

Until then, he said, "we just simply don't know how many people there are and where they are."

Other advocates say that immigration lawyers have had trouble getting to see people who have been detained, with officials refusing to grant access despite court orders in some jurisdictions that they do so.

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6: 45 p.m.

An Oscar-nominated Iranian director says he will not attend this year's Academy Awards because of a travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump.

Asghar Farhadi is an acclaimed director whose film "The Salesman" was nominated for best foreign film. He said Sunday that the uncertainty surrounding his ability to travel to the United States was "in no way acceptable," and that he would not attend the ceremony even if an exception to the ban were possible.

An executive order issued last week temporarily bans the entry of citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. The Trump administration says it is necessary to keep out potential terrorists.

Farhadi became the first Iranian to win an Oscar when his film "A Separation" was awarded best foreign film in 2012.

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6:30 p.m.

The head of the University of Notre Dame is calling on President Donald Trump to rescind his restrictions on refugees entering the United States.

The Rev. John Jenkins on Sunday called Trump's action indiscriminate and abrupt and predicted it would diminish the country.

Trump signed an executive order Friday suspending the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and barring the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely. The order also temporarily stops entry for citizens of six other majority Muslim nations.

Notre Dame is considered one of the flagship institutions of American Catholicism. The university invites U.S. presidents to speak at commencement, including President Barack Obama, who spoke in 2009. A Notre Dame spokesman says the school has not yet decided whether to invite Trump.

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6:20 p.m.

A Syrian musician who recently toured with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma says he is waiting to see whether he will be allowed to return to his New York home after President Donald Trump imposed a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority nations.

Kinan Azmeh, a clarinet player who lives in Brooklyn, said Sunday he does not have a "plan B" if he is not allowed back into the United States later this week.

Azmeh is in Lebanon to perform with a local orchestra after rehearsing and performing with Yo-Yo Ma in China and Denmark earlier this month.

The 40-year-old musician is one of thousands of green card holders who found their immigration status in limbo after Trump's order Friday.

Azmeh was born in Damascus and moved to the U.S. 16 years ago.

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6:15 p.m.

Iranian-born Swedish actress Bahar Pars, who hopes to share an Oscar for best foreign film, fears the ban will affect any possible plans to fly to the United States.

The 37-year-old Pars, who came to Sweden as a child, plays the female lead in the Swedish Oscar-nominated film "A Man Called Ove."

She told Swedish national news agency TT that "it's not at all certain that I'm going to get in."

Describing Trump's executive order as racist, she told TT it took her two months to get her visa to the U.S. approved after applying using her Iranian passport.

She said she was "very upset" by this, but added that it would also be good to go there and say to the whole world this is wrong.

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5:10 p.m.

The European Union's foreign policy chief has lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump, insisting that instead of building walls, the continent will "celebrate" every wall which is torn down and "every new bridge that is built up."

Building on criticism from several national EU capitals on Trump's decision to impose a travel ban on refugees, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said that "all men are first and foremost human beings, with their inalienable rights."

She said in Sunday's blog post that "everyone deserves respect, beyond their faith, gender, and nationality."

And she added between brackets "it feels so strange that we need to restate this, just days after Holocaust Remembrance Day."

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4:35 p.m.

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah says U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration policy "seems to have made me an alien" and fears he may not be able to return to his U.S. home.

Farah is a British citizen who was born in Somalia, one of seven predominantly Muslim nations subject to the executive order signed by Trump that temporarily bans entry to the United States.

Farah currently is training in Ethiopia. His family is based in Portland, Oregon.

The 33-year-old says on his Facebook page that "it's deeply troubling" he will have to tell his children that he might not be able to come home.

Farah's agent told The Associated Press that they were trying to clarify the situation with U.S. authorities.

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3:50 p.m.

The White House chief of staff says President Donald Trump acted early on in his term to impose a travel ban on refugees to block "people who want to do bad things to America."

Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) says there's nothing to apologize for after Friday's executive order drew widespread protests. A court order has temporarily barred the U.S. from deporting certain people.

Trump is temporarily barring refugees and citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

Priebus tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that the action "doesn't affect green card holders moving forward" — the subject of legal challenges.

Scores were detained Saturday upon arrival at U.S. airports, spurring the judge's order.

Priebus says officials were using "discretionary authority" to ask "a few more questions" at U.S. airports.

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3:35 p.m.

A petition set up on a British government website calling for U.S. President Donald Trump to be barred from visiting the country has attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures, qualifying it for a parliamentary debate.

Trump has drawn widespread condemnation in Britain for his ban on refugees and people from selected Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

Prime Minister Theresa May invited him to make a state visit to Britain this year during her trip to Washington last week.

The petition on the British parliament's website is titled: "Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom." It says his "well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received" by either Queen Elizabeth or Prince Charles.

The website says parliament considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for debate.

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3:05 p.m.

A top adviser to President Donald Trump says a federal judge's emergency order "really doesn't affect" his efforts to temporarily bar refugees and citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

Kellyanne Conway says on "Fox News Sunday" that a federal judge's late Saturday emergency order temporarily barring the U.S. from deporting people from nations subject to Trump's travel ban "really doesn't affect the executive order at all."

Conway says Trump's order is about "preventing, not detaining" and says that only a very small percentage of travers have been impacted.

Conway says that it's a "small price to pay" to keep the American public safe.

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2:45 p.m.

Etihad Airways, the United Arab Emirates' national airline, says a number of its passengers have been affected by the new U.S. immigration policies and it is working closely with American officials on the matter.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier said Sunday it is offering affected passengers refunds or flight changes where possible. It did not say how many passengers were affected.

Etihad passengers flying to the U.S. are screened and have their passports stamped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stationed in the Emirati capital rather than on arrival. Etihad says it is working with officials there and in the U.S. to address the new immigration policies.

The airline says: "Our joint interest is on ensuring that compliance and the well-being of all passengers is maintained across our global network."

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2:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump's immigration order is getting pushback in Congress.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio says "I think we should slow down" and that lawmakers "ought to be part" of the discussions about how best to tighten screening for foreigners who enter the United States.

Portman tells CNN's "State of the Union" that he doesn't think Trump executive action was properly reviewed before he signed it Friday.

Portman is urging everyone "to take a deep breath and come up with something that makes sense for our national security" and reflects the fact that "America's always been a welcoming home for refugees and immigrants."

He says America is "this beacon of hope and opportunity for the rest of the world" and should remain that way.

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2:15 p.m.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the Netherlands is convinced that refugees "deserve a safe shelter regardless of their origin or religion."

In a statement Sunday, Rutte added that he and Foreign Minister Bert Koenders regret the U.S. travel restrictions and reject them.

The condemnation from the Dutch government drew a swift rebuke from anti-Islam populist lawmaker Geert Wilders. Wilders tweeted in Dutch: "What a weakling."

Wilders advocates closing Dutch borders to immigrants from Islamic nations. He is polling strongly ahead of March 15 elections for the lower house of Dutch Parliament.

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1:55 p.m.

Switzerland's foreign minister says U.S. President Donald Trump's order to freeze immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries goes "in the wrong direction."

Didier Burkhalter said in a statement Sunday that it was "up to the American authorities to decide the immigration conditions in their country."

But he said measures taken to prevent terrorism must "respect fundamental rights as well as international law" and suggested Trump's order fails to do so.

Burkhalter said that as far as the rules apply to refugees it would be a breach of the Geneva Conventions for the United States, a signatory, to impose a general ban on people coming from Syria.

He said Switzerland would monitor the situation closely and provide its citizens with support, if necessary.

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