After a wonderful weekend in Mexico, I stepped off the plane at LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal to find a whole wall of folks with signs cheering for immigrants! I was flattered at first, because I came to the US as an undocumented immigrant from Korea (yes, it’s true), but it turned out that I had missed a lot in my weekend abroad!

A post shared by Bill Beaver (@billbeaverproject) on Jan 29, 2017 at 10:44pm PST

Last Friday, President Trump signed Executive Order #13770^[1], banning all immigration and travel from seven countries itemized in the Immigration and Nationality Act^[2] and the Visa Waiver part of U.S. Code^[3] as hostile to the United States. He also placed a 120-day freeze on all admission of refugees into the United States until the vetting system could be overhauled!

While that sounds sensible, there is a huge hole in the plan! Section 5b in the order gives an exception for refugees of “a minority religion in the individual’s country of nationality,” which reflects President Trump’s previous statements that specifically getting Christians out of Syria was his priority^[4]. For that reason, the order is being widely decried as a “Muslim ban,” not only for its biased policies but also because it went into effect so quickly that folks from the seven countries who were already on their way here were detained at airports for up to two days^[5] for violating immigration laws that didn’t exist when they got on the plane!

For that reason in particular, thousands of protestors^[6] poured into airports across the country, including LAX! With cries of “Shut it down!” they blocked roads on both levels of the airport, delaying flights and causing all kinds of travel chaos, and SWAT teams were standing by in case of violence. No violence broke out, but the message was clear: we do not tolerate legalized discrimination!

What remains to be seen as this ban develops is how the Constitution’s First and Fifth Amendments will protect these refugees! There’s no way to prove that a family is Christian or Muslim without illegally requiring a religious test, and it’s also illegal to detain these folks without due process of law. It also remains to be seen whether there will be edits made to the policy to make it more neutral, or whether it will be taken to the Supreme Court! All I know is that it was heartbreaking walking past the family members of detainees, pacing back and forth, not knowing what was happening to their loved ones.

So how can you help? If you can spare the time, join the protest! If you’re totally booked, take five minutes to call your Congressional representative and have them speak out for you! Or, if you’re really, really, really booked and terrified of talking to people on the phone, donate to the American Civil Liberties Union, who have already successfully sued for a stay on deportation of refugees already here^[7]. Together, we can ensure justice for those who are fleeing from horrors that we are lucky enough only to imagine!