Lawyers, Politicians Frustrated With Roll Out Of President Trump's Immigration Order
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Villanova law professor Caitlin Barry was one of a dozen or more lawyers who rushed to Philadelphia International Airport on Saturday night. She and her legal colleagues were pressed to interpret President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration.
"It was mass chaos on part of the administration on how to interpret this," Barry said. "It is a racist, xenophobic policy."
She would not identify her clients, but Barry tells Eyewitness News they're members of a family who were returning to the United States on Saturday. Upon landing at Philly International, she says they were detained by the Homeland Security Department and spent the night at the Delaware County Prison.
Writer: Trump Should Highlight Religious Aspect Of Refugee Ban
She said some members of the family were United State citizens.
"Our primary demand was to access our clients. We were denied access," Barry said.
In the crowd at the airport that turned out to protest the executive order on Saturday was Philadelphia's mayor, Jim Kenney.
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, dressed in a tuxedo, rushed from the Academy Ball in Center City. Each blasted the Trump administration for how the late Friday afternoon travel ban was unrolled.
Donald Trump's Travel Ban Fundamentally Changes American History
On Monday, Republican Senator Patrick Toomey released a statement, writing he agreed with enhanced vetting of those entering the United States, but said in part: "Unfortunately, the initial executive order was flawed. It was too broad and poorly explained. This apparently resulted in denied entry into the United States for lawful permanent residents and others who should have been allowed immediate entry.
