An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people braved the cold on Sussex Drive to protest the U.S. government’s self-described travel ban on residents from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Monday’s noontime protest came on the heels of an Executive Order, signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, which bars, for 90 days, immigrant and nonimmigrant entry to the United States of people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Sudan, with certain exceptions such as diplomatic visas. It also suspends all refugee applications from Syria indefinitely, until the application process is reviewed.
Gathering outside the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, protesters carried signs that said “No Ban No Wall”, in reference to Trump’s other recent Executive Order to begin building a wall along the border the United States shares with Mexico. Protesters chanted and formed a human chain around the embassy.
Adam Gilani - a University of Ottawa Law Student and Muslim – spoke to the large crowd.
“Canadians have a very, very strong interest in standing up for justice and standing up for politics of inclusion,” he said.
Gilani says the message at this protest was not only for the American government, but for the Canadian government as well.
“We have to show that there are hundreds and thousands and millions of people who are truly loving people and willing to show that they will not stand for that kind of hatred,” he said. “We have to stand and denounce this kind of action quickly, and do it right away to make sure that it doesn’t become an all-out, outright ban on Muslims, point-blank.”
Friday’s Executive Order caused confusion at airports across the United States on the weekend, and caused Westjet to briefly advise travelers with passports from these nations, even if they are dual Canadian citizens, to avoid travel. This was cleared up late Saturday, when the federal government received clarification from the U.S. that Canadian passport holders would not be subject to the ban, even if they have dual-citizenship with one of the seven countries.
On Sunday, Trump posted a statement on Facebook, defending the Executive Order.
My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months. The seven countries named in the Executive Order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror.
The order by Obama in 2011 suspended refugee applications from Iraq for six months, but did not bar entry to Iraqis traveling on all visa categories during that time. The seven countries chosen by the Trump administration were named in a U.S. law, signed by Obama in December 2015, that placed restrictions on travelers who had visited Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Sudan on or after March 1, 2011. Yemen, Libya and Somalia were added to that list in February 2016. It required anyone who could have previously entered the U.S. without a visa to apply for one if they had visited one of these countries. It did not bar entry to citizens from those countries.
Trump further defended the seeming suddenness of the ban Monday on Twitter.
If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
With files from Kimberley Johnson and Jenn Pritchard.