Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170130

Dont want us to do it again. Muslims are my brothers. They deserve to be here as much as i do. Amy we will speak with a sudanese graduate student at Stanford University who was detained at jfk. A lawyer from the aclu, whose lawsuit let a judge to stay deportations from airports for now. And to members of congress, and. Le highly inflammatory survey investigating views on islam. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In canada, police have arrested two gunmen charged with opening fire at the Islamic Cultural Centre of quebec city during evening prayers on sunday, killing six worshipers and wounding eight others. Witnesses described gunmen in black launching a coordinated attack on the mosque, opening fire indiscriminately with semiautomatic weapons. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attack as an act of terrorism. The mosque has previously been the target of hate. During the muslim holy month of ramadan last june, a pigs head was left on the doorstep of the mosque. Thousands of protesters flooded airports across the u. S. Over the weekend after President Donald Trump signed an executive order friday temporarily banning all refugees from entering the country and barring access for 90 days to nationals from seven majoritymuslim nations. The draconian measure instantly cut off access to the u. S. To 218 Million People from iran, iraq, libya, somalia, sudan, syria, and yemen. It indefinitely suspended the admission of Syrian Refugees. Across the world, travelers were left stranded, while scores were detained by Customs Officials after landing at u. S. Airports. As news of the order spread on saturday, thousands gathered at john f. Kennedy airport in new york city for a protest. They packed the space outside terminal 4 chanting, let them in i am here as a jewishamerican who is very aware of what we did just a couple of generations ago, and i dont want us to do it again. Muslims are my brothers. They deserve to be her just as much as i do. No person is illegal. Amy President Trumps order drew immediate legal challenges, and by sunday judges in california, massachusetts, virginia and washington issued , temporary stays blocking the deportation of valid visa holders. But some lawmakers report customs and Border Protection officers are defying the courts. Virginia congressman don beyer said officials at Dulles Airport outside washington, d. C. , refused to comment on whether they were detaining travelers, and had denied them access to lawyers. Beyers wrote on twitter we have a constitutional crisis today. Four members of Congress Asked cbp officials to enforce a federal court order and were turned away. In los angeles, police in riot gear deployed sunday as thousands of demonstrators blocked traffic near the Tom Bradley International terminal. Thousands more rallied at airports in chicago, denver, atlanta, houston, and seattle, and elsewhere. In San Francisco, demonstrators blocked all security entry points in sfos International Terminal on sunday. This is lara kiswani, executive director of the arab resource and organizing center. We are asking workers to stand with us and not comply to these racist orders. Were asking lawyers to continue to defend these immigrants and refugees. We are asking people to show up for as long as it takes. As harsh and difficult this may seem, we can only imagine what the detainees and the refugees and immigrants are experiencing on the other side of it. We want to show courage and discipline and make sure they know they are going to be supported. We are in this for the long run into we defeat trump. Amy in washington, d. C. , thousands marched from the white house to the capitol to protest Donald Trumps executive orders. In boston, a crowd of more than 10,000 packed Copley Square in support of immigrants rights. Overn new york, well 10,000 gathered within sight of the statue of liberty in Lower Manhattan to call for the u. S. To welcome immigrants and refugees. Donald trumps immigration order drew outrage and condemnation from world leaders. The french president Francois Hollande urged european leaders to stand up to trump, saying the u. S. President was encouraging extremism. A spokesperson for Angela Merkel said the german chancellor told trump in a phone call he risks violating a Geneva Convention requirement to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds. And irans government said it would soon take reciprocal measures to ban u. S. Citizens. In washington, some Top Republicans criticized trumps immigration order. Senators Lindsey Graham and john mccain said in a joint statement the move sends a signal, intended or not, that america does not want muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security. The order appears to run afoul of u. S. Laws preventing discrimination based on religious beliefs. In an interview with david brody of the christian broadcast network, trump admitted he wanted to give priority to christian refugees. The Refugee Program or the refugee changes you are looking to make, as it relates to persecuted christians, do you see them as a priority here . Pres. Trump yes. They have been horribly if you were a christian in syria, it was impossible, very, very tough to get into the United States. If you were a muslim, you could come in. If you are a christian, it was a must impossible. And the reason that was so unfair is that everybody was persecuted, and all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody. But more so, the christians. I thought it was very, very unfair. So were going to help them. Amy trump later walked back those comments, saying in a statement sunday night that his immigration ban was not about religion. But one of trumps top advisers said trump explicitly ordered a muslim ban. This is former new york city mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaking on fox news on saturday. When he first announced it, he said muslim ban. He called me of and said, put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally. I couldve commission together i put a commission together with a group of expert lawyers on this. What we did was we focused on, instead of religion, danger. The areas of the world that create danger for us, which is a factual basis, not a religious basis. Perfectly legal. Perfectly sensible. And that is what the ban is based on. Amy meanwhile, Michael Flynn jr. , the son of Trumps National security adviser said disclosing all websites and social media sites they visit. And to share the context in their cell phones. Belure to comply would grounds for deportation. After headlines, we will air a report from jfk airport and host a roundtable discussion on trumps immigration order. In texas, a mosque went up in flames just hours after President Trump signed fridays executive order. Police have opened an arson investigation into the fire, which completely destroyed the Islamic Center of victoria around 2 00 a. M. On saturday. Meanwhile, a massachusetts man faces hate crimes charges after he kicked and mocked a muslim woman wearing a hijab in a lounge at jfk airport in new york. Police say the man shouted, trump is here now. He will get rid of all of you. In greece, members of the neonazi Golden Dawn Party held a torchlight parade in athens on saturday, calling for a ban on migrants entering greece. Among those marching was member of parliament Ilias Pana Jio tahros, who praised President Donald Trumps ban on muslim refugees and immigrants. Tens of thousands of Illegal Immigrants in our country, and hundreds thousands of others can degrees years ago. Came to greeces ago. Everyone can come whenever they want and they can leave whenever they want. Follow a policy like donald trump is doing in the states right now. Amy golden dawn is the thirdlargest party in the greek parliament. Its members have been arrested for assaulting and murdering immigrants and political opponents, and the groups emblem is a red and black flag resembling a swastika. In october, the party endorsed donald trump in the u. S. Election. In washington, d. C. , thousands of antiabortitional mall friday for the annual march for life rally, held each year near the anniversary of the 1973 roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Among those addressing the crowd was Vice President mike pence who became the highestranking , official ever to attend the gathering. Pence predicted Donald Trumps next Supreme Court appointee would roll back abortion protections. And that is why next week, President Donald Trump will announce a Supreme Court nominee who will uphold the godgiven liberties enshrined in our constitution in the tradition of the late and great justice antonin scalia. [cheers] is winning in america. Amy last week, President Trump signed an executive order reinstating a global gag rule which bans u. S. Funding for any International Healthcare organization that performs abortion or even mentions abortion or even if those activities are funded by nonu. S. Money. Donald trump is elevated chief strategist steve bannon to a top National Security role, while downgrading the roles of the director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. The move adds bannon to the Principals Committee of the National Security council a role usually filled by the secretaries of state and defense, as well as Senior Intelligence officials. Bannon is the former head of rightwing breitbart media, a haven for the White Nationalist movement. Forbes magazine reports that the ten richest americans added nearly 16 billion in wealth to their combined net worth since donald trump took office. Topping the list warren buffett, whose net worth climbed by 2. 5 billion to 74 billion in the week following january 20. In north dakota, the state house of representatives has advanced a bill that would allow companieto conceal spills of oil, natural gas, and contaminated water. House bill 1151 passed overwhelmingly last wednesday. It would end a requirement that fossil fuel Companies Report spills at well sites of less than 10 barrels, or 420 gallons. Meanwhile, the army corps of engineers has begun accepting Public Comments on an Environmental Impact statement for the Dakota Access pipeline. Members of the public have until february 20 to weigh in on the proposed 3. 8 billion project, which has faced months of resistance from members of hundreds of indigenous nations, as well as their nonnative allies. In yemen, u. S. Commandos and helicopter gunships raided a village sunday said to be home to alqaeda leaders, and local medics said civilians were among the dead. It was the First Military operation authorized by President Donald Trump. The pentagon said it killed 14 al qaeda members, while one u. S. Commando was killed and three wounded in the raid. The afp news service reported as many as eight women and eight children were killed in the assault. Among them was the eightyearold daughter of Anwar Alawlaki, a radical cleric and u. S. Citizen who was killed in yemen by a u. S. Drone strike in 2011. The girls grandfather, nasser alawlaki, said she suffered for hours after she was shot in the neck. She is the second child of Anwar Alawlaki to be killed by the United States in yemen after her brother, 16yearold american citizen abdulrahman alawlaki, was killed in a u. S. Drone strike in 2011. Two weeks after his father. As a president ial candidate, donald trump repeatedly promised to kill the families of terrorists, even though the practice violates international law. In alabama, naacp president Cornell William brooks and five other civil rights leaders are due in court today, where they will face misdemeanor charges stemming from their sitin protest january 4 inside the office of alabama republican senator jeff sessions. The six are demanding sessions withdraw his name from consideration for attorney general. Due to his opposition to the Voting Rights act and history of making racist comments. After todays hearing, the six civil rights leaders are scheduled to join a rally outside sessions office in mobile, where they say they might participate in another direct action. And the Screen Actors Guild held its annual awards ceremony on sunday night, with Hidden Figures winning for best film ensemble and Denzel Washington winning a best actor award for his role in fences. The ceremony was dominated by statements of defiance against President Trumps ban on immigrants from majoritymuslim countries. This is julia louisdreyfus, who won an award for her role in hbos veep. I want yall to know that im the daughter of an immigrant. Fled religious persecution and not the occupied france. I am an american patriot. I love this country. And because i love this country, i am horrified by its blemishes and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is unamerican. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and i am juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Thousands of protesters flooded airportscross the u. S. Over the weekend after President Donald Trump signed an executive order friday temporarily banning all refugees from entering the country and barring access for 90 days to nationals from seven majoritymuslim nations. The draconian measure instantly cut off access to the u. S. To 218 Million People from iran, iraq, libya, somalia, sudan, syria, and yemen. It indefinitely suspended the admission of Syrian Refugees. Amy across the world, travelers were left stranded, while scores were detained by Customs Officials after landing at u. S. Airports. As news of the order spread on saturday, thousands gathered at jfk airport in new york city for a protest. Democracy now s Nermeen Shaikh was there. Nermeen we are outside new york city, john f. Kennedy airport, outside terminal 4 were thousands of people have gathered to protest the Trump Administrations executive order, which has prevented many people from seven muslim majority countries from entering the United States. More than 10 of them here the taint at terminal 4. Detained at terminal 4. People chanting let them in. And refugees welcome here. Lets talk to some of the people here. I am here today because as a muslim woman, i find this band it is personal to me because i have Family Members who are on visa and now they are at risk of not being able to leave or enter the country. As a muslim, i feel like this is targeting our community in an unfair way. 12 30 alsore since before, it was like 100 people who showed up. Then we were live streaming. I actually tweeted for people to be here. It had like 2000 three tweets. As i was live streaming, i got a lot of shares, like almost 1000 shares. I think other people here do the same thing. The next thing you know, there is entire future crowds showing up. Now protests are happening all over the country. My name is sharing. I am here as a Jewish American who is very aware of what we did just a couple of generations ago and i dont want to see us do it again. Muslims are my brothers and they deserve to be here just as much as i do and no person is illegal. I am here to express that on this super cold night. My name is david. I am from texas bank, but my parents are from vietnam. Nermeen what brings you here . I am so angry. If it wasnt for the country letting my parents in here when they were refugees, none of us would be here. New york is made up of immigrants and refugees. This is infuriating. Nermeen your parents came here as refugees . Yes, from vietnam. My entire family did. It is absurd that muslims are being targeted. It is ridiculous. When my parents first came to this country, they had nothing. They came here with the hope to escape their country and everything horrible that was going on over in vietnam. And to build a life. They build a life from scratch year. They pay their taxes. They had their children. They looked to america as a beacon of hope. It is unfair that right now we want to ban muslims. It is terrible. Brazil but ive been here for over 20 years. I went to the green card process. I know how much of a vetting process that is already. Even the visa process. I know it takes very little of a suspicious note in your history to not be allowed in. Ridiculous and arbitrary as a muslim ban, it makes no sense. The people who are being prevented from entering the u. S. Include legal am a permanent residents, people who have green cards from those seven countries that have been designated by the Trump Administration. That is correct. That is what is even more appalling about it. But just from a basic level, we should not turn people away. Common human decency. People are escaping a country that your self have destroyed. Damico what are your concerns for the muslims here in the u. S. Under this administration . All a muslim brothers and sisters, there is nothing to fear. Your actions are more important. Keep doing what youre doing. We are going to be unapologetic muslims. Heard there was one man released earlier today and i hope with the pressure of a lot of elected i was sitting with a bunch of city council people, thousands of people, that the shame and embarrassment of doing this act and everyone seeing you will help it stop. That being said, just today, what happens a month from now when they are still stuck in their countries and not hear the airport . This is a dramatic thing at the airport. Im worried more about what happens a few weeks from now when people are expecting to come here from refugee camps, cant come. Im worried more almost about what happens with the people were not going to be as aware of. Nermeen outside of cold terminal 4 at new york city john f. Kennedy airport, i am Nermeen Shaikh for democracy now this land was made for you and me to austin,sts spread washington, d. C. , atlanta, San Francisco. President trumps order drew immediate legal challenges. On sunday, judges in california, in brooklyn, ordered the men released as part of a nationwide stay on part of trumps executive order. Her ruling temporarily blocked the deportation of valid visa holders, including those from countries listed in trumps ban. Amy in boston, carl williams, a lawyer from the aclu, and as a legal victory while standing in front of protesters at Logan International airport. Filed foru nationally a writ of habeas corpus to stop this nationally. Just grantedw york that. The legal premise that we have learned tonight is that when we fight, we win. Amy judges in california massachusetts, virginia, and , washington quickly followed with similar rulings, and the department of Homeland Security said on sunday it would comply with the orders. But some lawmakers report customs and Border Protection officers are defying the courts. We will be back with more on Donald Trumps executive order and the mass protests across the country. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan as we continue our coverage of Donald Trumps executive order, were joined by nisrin el amin, a ph. D. Student in anthropology at Stanford University and a sudanese citizen. Amy she was detained at jfk airport on friday evening shortly after Donald Trumps executive order banning visitors from seven countries, including sudan, went into effect. Welcome to democracy now im very sorry for what you went through. Can you describe what happened to you at the airport . Sure. I boarded a plane incident shortly after finding out about the executive order. I was trying to get back before he came into effect, but i missed the connecting flight. When i got in, i was asked escorted into a separate holding area. , ins question extensively part, among other things, about my views about the political situation of sudan, about whether or not i knew of radical groups in sudan, whether i knew people who had radical views. I was asked to share my social media handles not my passwords, but my social media handles. And i was asked to sit tight and wait as they were trying to figure out what was going on because the order had literally just inside. Or they were just getting notice of it, so the officers did not really know what they were doing. They told me eventually that i needed to get transferred to terminal 4, which is a 24 hour holding area. Before doing that, i had to be patted down. I was led into a room. I was headed down. It was very and comfortable. I was touched in my chest and groin area. I was take up briefly. That is when i started to cry. At that moment i thought, im going to get deported. Realized they had not handcuffed the other person with me, in a radiant green card holder. They took off the handcuffs. They transferred us to terminal 4. There were other people at this point getting lead in an handcuffs who were iranian and iraqi citizens with valid visas. Eventually, i got out after five hours. I was told i asked the officer if i would be able to go back to sudan because i hadnt finished my dissertation research. He recommended that i not go back unless i was willing to be subjected to that whole procedure again. He said, you know, i would stay put if i were you because green card holders are being treated on a casebycase basis. Juan there is been a lot of reports in terms of the lack of preparation for this order. Did you get any sense that the Customs Officials and the others you dealt with, the immigration officials, were on the same wavelength or new with you were doing . Or was there a lot of confusion . It was very chaotic. It wasmitted to me interesting watching. I feel like when i first got into the holding area, which i was quite familiar with because when i was an f1 on a student and work visa, i was often question in that room. I never expected to be there is a green card holder. There is a lot of confusion. In the beginning, i felt like a was being treated quite well. As the night progressed, i feel progressive, the location, if you will. That is as people were trying scrambling to try to get direction from higherups in washington. Amy they were not used to Holding Green card holders . Exactly. Amy do you feel you were treated differently as not only an immigrant, but as an african immigrant . An interesting question. On the one hand, i was probably treated much better than other people, probably because of my affiliation with stanford. Amy had stanford helped you come back as quickly as they could . Yes, they paid for my ticket. During interview, i told him i was a stanford phd student. Amy and a harvard undergrad . Yes. I think that led me being detained for five hours, as opposed to another sudanese person was detained for 30 hours. On the flipside, when i want to terminal 4, they did not know my background and i did feel i guess the point i want to make is, i think this order is a reflection of a larger trend in this country to criminalize black people, to criminalize immigrants, to criminalize muslims. I am really concerned about that. I do think the somalis and sudanese, people of african descent, are going to be affected by this. I think theyre going to be treated differently. Amy you have made the point that other terrorists, people like dylann roof, who murdered a bunch of innocent civilians, terrorizing the whole population, you have made a comparison to how communities are treated. Yeah. I guess i want people to realize , you know, to imagine a ban on White Christian males from schools and churches where these kinds of terrorist acts have happened, like the one dylann roof committed. That would be nonsensical. I think this is very similar. Juan omar jadwat of the aclu, your take were your organizations take on this executive order . What you did immediately . The take on it, maybe not too much i can add to that analysis except some legal take on it, but donald trump promised us a muslim ban when he was running for president. Within a week of taking office, that is what ordered. That is unconstitutional. It is subject to being struck down by the courts eventually and we won the first victory of that process with the state ordered on saturday. You know, there is more work to be done, obviously, in that process, but the degree to which this administration has been nakedly discriminatory don juan why is it unconstitutional . The government cannot discriminate against a particular religion, it cannot favor one over another. And this does both. Not only does it ban people, it is in a perfect muslim ban. It doesnt get every muslim in the world, but it is a muslim ban. As donald trump explained, theres a specific provision to favor christians from among the refugees that would otherwise be ban. Amy lets talk about what happened in the courts. On saturday, the aclu asked a federal judge to intervene in the case of two iraqis detained at jfk airport. On saturday night communist district judge ann donnelly in brooklyn ordered the men released as part of a nationwide stay a part of trumps executive order. Ruling temporarily blocking the deportation of valid visa holders, including those from the countries listed in trumps ban. If you could talk about who, omar, these two iraqis were . , translator,aqis who soldiers around the country started to stand up for it said, he saved our lives. This is the face of who a muslim ban hits, people like misrin and the man who worked for the u. S. Military for 10 years in iraq, put his life on the line for our country in a way that most americans dont. Did, youse of what he know, was trying to come to the United States and escape the possibility of retribution for what he had done for our country. We have a special immigrant visa process for folks who have helped the military abroad. He got fully vetted for this visa. He went all the way through the process. Gets to the airport and they say well, they told him, you know, potentially they were going to deport him back. Lets go to jfk airport after he was released. Me tos is what pushed move, leave my country and come here. I am very, very thankful to all of the people who come to support me. Thank you very much. And always, we know america is , the land ofreedom freedom. What you think of donald trump . I like him, but i dont know. Im a normal person. Visa, me and my family, because i work with the u. S. Government. I support the u. S. Government. When i came here, they say, no. They tell me i break the rules or do something wrong. Juan speaking at jfk after he was released from detention. I want to ask you, the judicial order prevents any deportations, but not the denial of visas . Right. That is one of the reasons i say theres much more work to be done in terms of challenging this ban and striking it down finally. This is the first step in it is an important victory. Honestly, for the people who have been stuck obviously, for people stuck in airports, but more generally, demonstration of the fact that both the courts can stand up to the president on these issues and that people around the country can make a huge difference by turning out and by supporting camino, immigrants who are being threatened by the Trump Administration. Amy the turnout was astonishing. Thousands of people flocking to the airports. Were the executive director and cofounder of the new york Taxi Workers Alliance. Represents,ife that what, 18,000 taxi drivers in new york city . Exec lock tofrom 7 00, eastern time, you organize taxi drivers to not pick up passengers at jfk, set right . Why . We were outraged by the socalled executive order. It is absolutely inhumane and cruel. Were a workforce that is largely muslim and seikh. We know when the flames of , and nowbia are fanned by the presidency, it has a Ripple Effect on everyday people in this country. We have known through the years that taxi drivers who are 20 times more likely to be killed on the job than any other worker , have often been the workers that have been the victims of hate crimes. Amy so what happened . They justs would not go to terminal 4 . Thats right. It was an act of solidarity. It was an act of consciousness. What is happening in this country is not normal. We refuse to accept this as normalcy. We are a better humanity than this. Amy you called on uber, but they did not abide . In york city, we have over 19,000 members and it includes uber drivers. Uber is a company sought to take it manage of our strike. It backfired. People have been outraged. But it is not surprising because the ceo of uber is in a visor to the president advisor to the president. Been atrocious policy in terms of treatment to its workers. Juan in many other cities around the country, you have taxi fleets largely manned by immigrant, and many of the muslim drivers. Theres your sense is any connection between your group and others across e country . Absolutely. Yesterday in philadelphia, the Taxi Workers Alliance of pennsylvania went on a similar solidarity strike and stood with the protesters. It San Francisco come austin, texas, houston. ,ecause of Companies Like uber we are a workforce that has been so deeply fragmented and impoverished, right . When workers are kept poor, it has an impact on civil society. It is harder for people to rise up and take collective action. But we are at a moment of such deep urgency in this society. I am really proud of our members. And the drivers across this country. This was a real act of courage. Particularly, to have a workforce that is predominantly black and brown, stand up in this time. Uber did respect the work stoppage and said they were going to give 1 million to the aclu over the next two years, as did Sarah Paulson at the sag awards last night. There as been an outpouring of support for a variety of organizations, but also that is a small part of what matters. What matters is people doing what they can to make a difference. That is what we saw this weekend in every way. Contributions are important, but getting out amy and 150,000 new members . This is a response that is unprecedented. And mobilizing those people is what those people and the people they know and the people they know and the people these people know is what is going to make a difference. , the nisrin el amin reaction and some of these countries to this ban im wondering if youre getting a sense from the people that you still know in sudan and your sense that the International Airports as you were coming, what the reaction abroad is to what is happening here . People are outraged. And the people directly affected by this are deeply concerned. They are afraid. Noty case, my parents are green card holders. They live in sudan. My sister is a dual citizen of australia and sudan. Were now on three different continents. Because of this order, we cannot see each other. And that is scary. My father is honest 80. If i wanted to see him or if he wanted to come, he could not do that. Juan despite your being a permanent resident. Exactly. I think people are questioning the legality. It is one thing to vet people from the six countries, some of people in this country, but it is another to blanket ban people from being allowed to obtain remission to enter the country. Amy and what it meant you to see all of the protests at all of the airports when you came out . It was heartwarming. Im so happy that people are sticking amy and senators mccain and graham saying this is the best terrorist recruitment tool, when you criminalize whole population, whole religions . Right. I think that is a fair point. This is not going to make the United States any safer. I think it is a misguided policy. I think in many ways, we also have to ask who has the right to feel safe . Do i have the right to feel safe . This is making a lot of people affected by the order feel unsafe and unwelcome in this country. Amy we have a lot more to do in this show. We want to thank you for being with us. Nisrin el amin was held at jfk airport. Shes a sudanese green hard green card holder. I want to thank the head of the Taxi Workers Alliance here in new york city. And thank you to omar jadwat, a lawyer with the aclu whose case brought the challenge and a federal judges ruling to say the deportations from these airports, at least for now. When we come back, we will be joined by two congressmembers, Jerrold Nadler in new york as well we will be joined from. Eattle by Pramila Jayapal and were going to texas. What a state legislator did their demanding that Muslim Leaders around the state answer a questionnaire about islam. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan as we continue to cover the protest over Donald Trumps executive order, lets turn to the protest in San Franciscos international airport. My name is sarah shourd. We have been occupying this airport promised 36 hours for almost 36 hours. It has been women, young people, people of color. And a student at uc santa cruz. I am muslim and ive never seen this much support for the general Muslim Community before. This is really amazing. I work for the school district. It is important for latinos to be here because it is a matter it does not matter what background you come from. Were all fighting for the same, which is human rights. I feel that Everybody Needs to support each other. I am an organizer with the arab resource and organizing center. We fought for the families who work with the lawyers and we work with our local Public Officials who do stand with us to make sure we put enough pressure and disrupt sfo. International terminal was not able to have any flights to port as a result of our disruption. We shut down both gates. We were allowing flights to arrive in order to make sure we got our families in. Ultimately, found that recently all of the families that were detained are released. This is a small testament of what is to come. We have started a movement of resistance to trump, a movement built on history of resistance to this country to fascism and u. S. Imperialism. We continue to be committed to that. We expect we will win that. Amy voices from the San Francisco international airport. Were joined now by two members, democratic members of congress, Jerrold Nadler in new york who spent much of saturday at Jfk International airport trying to free some of thosed inside. And Pramila Jayapal, at the protest at Seatac Airport outside seattle. We welcome you both to democracy now congressman nadler, you are at battery park. Will over 10,000 organizers, maybe 30,000 people gathered and marched to federal plaza. Who about your response, has been detained, how you got them out, and what you feel needs to be done. We were told when we got we went to jfk airport saturday morning. We were told by the lawyers there that there were two people being detained whose names we knew. And 10 people who seems we did not know. No one could talk to any of them. The customs and Border Protection people incessantly through the day. I would like to think we had an impact of getting two of them released. Sh who youmid darwe played a little while ago. He is a fellow who had helped american troops. He was a translator. He put his life on the line for 10 years helping the american military. He was a target. He was a target of assassination attempts. He could not go back. For us to threatened to deport him, not only immoral and disgusting am a bit ridiculous. Theres a second person who was released saturday night was on a different kind of visa, and immigrant visa. Im sorry, refugee visa. We had to get intervention from the secretary level in washington. His wife, who is now residing in worked with the american military. He was a target. He was eventually released. At this all of these people, it is disgusting. I looked at this full thing, i said it was unconstitutional, illegal, and dangerously stupid. Juan and the whole issue of green card holders being drawn into this dragnet and now the in administration saying, well, his fourth, from now on, that wont be a problem. Going forward. My wife teaches at columbia graduate school. A lot of foreign students there. Right after the election, they started telling those students, dont go home for winter break because god knows what is guys going to do. You might be stuck abroad. So some people did not do that. The idea people who live and work in this country who went abroad, went abroad for a funeral or whatever, cant get back is also disgusting. The idea it is done on a religious basis goes against everything this country supposedly stands for. Amy Pramila Jayapal, this is your first term in congress. You your self are an immigrant to this country. You are at the Seatac Seattle airport protest. What are you going to call for when you go back to washington . We are essentially saying the same thing that congressman o nadler said. We went this president to rescind this executive order. I was called to the airport about 1 00 in the afternoon. I was there for eight hours. Same drill. We had a really force ourselves to talk to customs and Border Protection agents. We were able to get two people that were put on a plane and were actually the airplane was at the gateway ready to take off will stop we had to go and essentially hold the plane. We were finally able to get the two people off. They were finally given access to Legal Counsel. For a while, they were telling us they did not have the right to Legal Counsel because there were being processed. In fact, they were not in processing. They had a ready been released off the plane. We were able to finally get the Legal Counsel and they were released early yesterday morning. One gentleman, though, was sent back to somalia before we got to him. Their Family Members were at the Seatac Airport and had been waiting, had been anticipating being reunited with their Family Member and were left really wondering if there was a place for any of them in this country. I think over 1000 people were at seatac within the core seven our. Course of an hour. Last night, lead over 10,000 people in downtown seattle. Protesters who really understand this is not about immigration. This is about who we are as a country and what we are willing to stand up for. And it feels familiar after 9 11 when we had to fight the Bush Administration around special registration many other things like that. We are back at it. With a president who seems to not care about any of our institutions. And we hope that he actually does listen to the nationwide stay. Juan congressman, the issue of the Trump Administration has now tried to calm things down by releasing folks as a result of the protests. Reports are coming from airports and embassies around the world now that the embassies, the u. S. Embassies are basically canceling all appointments of not only people who have already appointed set up for visas, but dual nationals. For example, if you are a british to or iranian citizen or a german citizen and a libyan citizen, even folks who have citizenship in other countries are being denied even the opportunity to get an interview or an application. Your sense of what this is doing around the world . I think it is absolutely making us, first of all, less safe because were putting fodder into the hands of people who do wish to do us harm by allowing them to essentially say that the United States hates muslims, hate immigrants. But on top of that, i think our standing as a country has taken a deep plunge since this president was elected, certainly since he has taken office, not only would this executive order, but his other executive orders around immigration, around building the wall. We have essentially started to cut off relationships with other countries. And we no longer are seen as a place that really is a leader in a global world that is struggling. With 5 million Syrian Refugees pouring out of syria, for us to permanently or indefinitely ban Syrian Refugees isbsolutely outrageous. Amy i want to turn to President Trump signing his executive order on immigration. On International Holocaust remembrance day. He also marked the date, which commemorates the liberation of jews at auschwitz, with a statement that omitted any mention of jews the. , you discussed this when you spoke in battery park yesterday to the crowd of over 10,000. To commemorate the holocaust without mentioning jews is to try to rewrite history. Yes, plenty of people who are not jewish were murdered by the nazis, but only the jews were the target of a termination to lemonade all jews. That was the whole purpose of the holocaust. Out of thet the jews holocaust is disgusting. It does go a long we have seen this by far rightwing parties. Judizere trying to de history. It is disgusting. Juan and the whole issue about donald trump tweeting about all the christians being persecuted in the middle east and basically ignoring the reality of how many muslims have been dying in all of these wars and battles. And he liked out right when he said it was a most impossible for christian for a christian to immigrate compared to the muslims. The fact is, i think the numbers are essentially equal. 38,000 christians, 30,000 muslims last year 38,000 muslims last year. We think these countries are 95 muslims. They are not been discriminated against, the christians. I will say the christian populations in the middle east are being persecuted in august every country except israel. It is the one place where they are not. One of the few places, i should say. In egypt, you have the cops and in otherted countries, too. Amy i want to go to texas were hundreds of Muslim Leaders received a survey investigating their views on islam. Joining us now, Sarwat Husain, the founding president of the san antonio chapter of the council on americanislamic relations. What were you being asked by state legislature . Timing, tohe day. Act our upcoming we take thousands of muslims to the state capital to learn about the political process, beat the ke theers ma lawmakers understand. The timing was to distract us from going there. This is not the first time. Two years ago, another representative molly white did the same thing. We were shocked when we saw the letter. The letter was sent to me also. At first glance, of course, you see representative bierman does not have any knowledge of islam whatsoever. Amy this is the new state legislator. He is a freshman. He does not have knowledge. People advising him are not expertise in the scholarly study of islam, either. It is downright disgusting, offensive, intimidating. It hurts to see this coming from a lawmaker. You do not expect these kinds of things from your government. You expect just common decency. Amy is said urgent reply sap. Did other legislators condemned this . Did the legislature overall say no it has to answer this questionnaire . Not the legislators. They did not. It when we held a press conference the same day he was having hearing at the capital, we had a press conference. Some of the legislators did come out and join us. Democrats, again, so none of the republicans came out or even condemned the letter. Amy and the mosque in texas that when up in flames in victoria this weekend . Yes. Yes. We do not know who did that. This is not the first attack on the mosque. This is the fifth attack in the state of texas the last few months. Mosques have been torched. Feces have been spread all over the mosque. Pages from the koran were ripped off and thrown outside. I mean, you name it. The hate emails and calls are so very common. Amy in fact, congressman nadler, scores of Jewish Community centers have also been attacked. We have 20 seconds. Commerce and buyer is calling this time a time of constitutional crisis. Do you agree . It is a time of attacks on all minorities and the president is fermenting that. The paranoia of Trumps Campaign and of his rhetoric now against muslims, against others resonates against all minorities. Amy we will leave it there. We thank you for being with us, Congress Members gerald Jerrold Nadler and Pramila Jayapal, Sarwat Husain joining us from san antonio, texas. We want to hear from you. If you have experience in kind if you have experience in kind of prejudice, right to today on americas test kitchen, dan cooks ultimate charcoalgrilled steaks, adam reviews steak knives, gadget guru lisa reveals her favorite jar gadgets, and bryan makes grilled pork kebabs with hoisin and fivespice. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by dcs. Dcs manufacturers of professionally styled indoor and outdoor kitchen equipment