This executive order outraged many, so starting on Saturday at JFK airport, protesters shut down airports across the country. In Chicago on Saturday night, the road to get into the International Terminal at O’Hare was blocked by people practicing civil disobedience.

This protest was unlike many recent protests in another way: the passion of the leaders of the Arab American Action Network was palpable. Each chant was so enthusiastic that mosh pits formed in the middle of the street. Even when police officers threatened to arrest the protesters for being inside the airport on Sunday night the enthusiasm was not dampened. Marchers continued demonstrating outside the door of the terminal. Police confiscated the sound system of one group of protesters, and in response, the crowds of people increased the volume of their voices. The police confined the protesters within a cage of fences, but this did not constrict them either. They marched back and forth within the small fenced in areas and let the police know that they were still determined to march.

Some opposed the protests, feeling that shutting down international airports is not a constructive way to convey a message to the President and that working with legal defense organizations and letter writing would have been more productive.  Marcus Williams, junior, said, “I think that disrupting international airports only fuels the negative view conservatives have about protesters. I also feel that it is not effective politically. While everyone should have the right to protest, I believe that the airport protests may have gone a bit overboard considering that there has been an influx of immigration and our systems to ensure American safety is at best faulty.”

This executive order was particularly poignant to Jews across the country who saw in this ban echoes of the Holocaust. The survivors’ admonition to “Never Forget” has sparked a spirit among Jews to combat situations in the world which could lead to another genocide. The Chicagoland Jewish community attributes nefarious intent to the executive order barring refugees. In every direction in the protest, there were signs saying, “Jews in support of Immigrants” and “Never Again.”  Particularly striking was the fact that the Jewish community came out to support Muslims denied entrance into the United States, despite the Jewish and Muslim communities often finding themselves at odds over Middle East issues.