President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his executive order to severely curb refugees and legal immigration, insisting on Twitter that America needs "extreme vetting" to avoid the "horrible mess" elsewhere.
Trump's defense of his actions came as he faced escalating pressure to rescind the order. A growing number of Republicans chided Trump for the order, humanitarian groups planned a second round of protests Sunday, and some judges issued rulings halting the deportation of refugees and others caught in the fire.
"Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world — a horrible mess!" Trump tweeted early in the morning.
Trump's executive order, issued Friday, has many elements, but its main features include an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees, a halt to all refugee admissions to the United States, and the temporary suspension of all visa holders from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya.
The White House also insisted that even U.S. legal permanent residents who hail from those seven countries must get additional screening if they are returning to America from abroad. People of dual citizenship also are barred from entering the United States if one of their nationalities is from the seven countries.
The result was panic and confusion at airports across the country on Friday and Saturday as travelers' status suddenly changed while they were mid-flight. Those caught up included an Iraqi who obtained a special U.S. visa for helping American troops, as well as legal permanent residents who live in the United States and were returning from trips abroad.
Lawyers rushed to airports across the country to help the stranded, as did numerous protesters. The ACLU and other groups filed lawsuits to prevent the travelers from being sent back. Advocacy groups used social media to rail against what they called Trump's "Muslim Ban."
A Brooklyn judge issued a nationwide stay of the deportations as government lawyers themselves tried to figure out what was going on. Other judges issued similar rulings, including some that seemed to go further by requiring the detained be released.
In a cryptically worded statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it would comply with the various legal ruling and indicated plans to release all green-card holders who had arrived in the United States on Friday or Saturday and were detained under the Trump order.
Numerous Democratic lawmakers have blasted the order, but Trump's fellow Republicans have started to splinter. A handful, such as Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, issued statements saying the order goes too far, especially when it affects legal permanent residents.
Also chiming in were foreign leaders. Canada's Justin Trudeau tweeted that his country remained open to refugees, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May also were reported to have criticized it.
Trump aides, however, insist the measure is necessary to protect the United States from terrorists who may be trying to infiltrate the refugee and visa programs. They will likely get the support of plenty of far-right politicians in Europe and beyond, many of whom consider the Muslim migrants who have spilled out of the war-torn Middle East in recent years a potential threat.