DULLES, Va. --Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring responded to President Donald Trump's executive order to ban more than 130 million people from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees by speaking out as protesters gathered at Washington Dulles International Airport Saturday evening.
McAuliffe said he was outraged and disappointed by the president’s actions and hoped Trump would work with leaders in Washington to reverse the policy and restore the nation’s status as a beacon of opportunity for all.
"People have boarded planes, allowed to come to this country, when they land in our country, they are detained? What kind of a nation is this?” McAuliffe said. “We were built on immigrants. They have made our country the great nation it is today. And it is sending such a discriminatory , racist… It is awful and it has got to stop.”
Afederal judge granted an emergency stay Saturday nightfor citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries who have already arrived in the US and those who are in transit, and who hold valid visas, ruling they can legally enter the US — a decision that halts President Donald Trump’s executive order barring citizens from those countries from entering the US for the next 90 days.
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.