People around the nation packed major airports this past weekend denouncing President Trump’s executive order barring refugees and—temporarily—immigrants from seven largely Muslim countries. The same was true in New Mexico. A huge and diverse group of demonstrators descended on the Sunport on Sunday.
Well over 1,000 people marched into Albuquerque’s international airport, and it’s a turnout Ellaf Al-Tamimi was surprised to see. She came to the U.S. with her family as refugees from Iraq in the early '90s.
"I’m blessed every day for the life I get here because if I was there and I was in war I probably wouldn’t be alive because the war was going on in our village, and I’m just so blessed," she said. "So this means the world to me. I didn’t even expect all of these people to be here. It’s amazing."
Al-Tamimi says she and her family are proud Muslim Americans. President Trump’s executive order hurt, she said, and so does lumping all members of her faith in with terrorists.
Analisa Madrid carried a sign that said: Christians Against Muslim Ban. "We’re supposed to welcome with open arms the people who are needy and who are seeking refuge," she said.
An estimated 100 to 200 people were detained in airports, and the American Civil Liberties Union managed to stop some of them from being deported.
