AUBURN, Ala. — The widespread protests of President Donald J. Trump’s immigration ban have hit Alabama, where approximately 200 people marched in opposition to the restrictions at Auburn University last Thursday.
Students and teachers alike gathered to voice their displeasure with the president’s executive action up and down the University’s Haley Concourse. According to a report from oanow, the protest was organized by Auburn students on Facebook.
Two weeks ago, President Trump signed an executive order placing a ban refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Syria, and a 120-day ban on other refugees. White House Counsel has since issued a clarification indicating the order does not apply to current U.S. Green Card holders.
Several of the state’s public universities, including Auburn and Alabama, have released official statements noting that Trump’s order directly affects their faculty and student bodies. Such issues have left those on campus concerned.
“That’s when I realized that this is really a problem that affects a lot of people that we know,” Christine Cameron, one Auburn protest organizer, told oanow. “The response has been overwhelming.”
On Friday, a Federal Judge from Washington placed a nationwide stay on Trump’s order, halting any further action. The Trump Administration plans to appeal that decision in the near future.
“We are scientists, and we are not terrorists,” Iranian Auburn Student Mohamad Menati told oanow. “We are over here because we thought the United States is great, and we just thought we could have our own contribution to the United States.”
