Sen. Tim Kaine (D) called President Donald Trump's controversial executive order "a religious test, pure and simple" during a press conference at Dulles International Airport Monday, as he continued to seek answers about the implications of Trump's order pertaining to refugees and immigrants.
The former vice presidential nominee shared the latest on information he received from the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection on an order that puts a temporary entry ban on citizens from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia for at least 90 days.
"There are so many things wrong with this order," Kaine said, adding it was put together with "little thought about consequences."
The order also halts the flow of Syrian refugees until further notice and suspends all refugee admissions for 120 days until more analysis can be done to determine who does not pose a threat to the U.S.
Since the order was issued Friday, it has not been clear whether it applied to green card holders and lawful permanent residents. Lawyers and people affected by the ban said people have been detained by airport authorities and questioned for hours without any access to a lawyer.
Kaine said the executive order applied to green card holders who would be able to board planes from abroad, but could still be subject to questioning "depending on the discretion of CBP officials." That same policy, he said, would apply to special immigrant visa holders, which is given to translators from Iraq and Afghanistan.
For non-green card holders, Kaine said they would be barred from boarding planes.
"I place my hope in lawyers and the courts. I place my hope in my colleagues ... we all have to be active and engaged and rise up and speak up about the improper nature of how this was done," Kaine said. "Will it be a court battle? Or a legislative battle? Or a popular outcry that will slow this down and stop it? I'm not going to predict which one."
As of Monday, Kaine and Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R) said CBP was not detaining anyone at Dulles, although Kaine clarified it did not mean no one had been "questioned."
Late Saturday, a federal judge in Alexandria issued an order directing CBP allow attorneys access to people being held at Dulles Airport.
Charlie Schmidt, a counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia, has been at Dulles Airport since Sunday. He claimed lawyers have not been granted access to people being held.
Schmidt said he has heard reports of people being subjected to intrusive questions. Some authorities, he said, have asked for access to the people in holding's social media accounts.
"The distinction that they're making is: detained, held, refused entry, sent back. Now it seems more like: held, questioned, and then we don't know," Schmidt said.
All Dulles Area Muslim Society Chairman Rizwan Jaka -- a leader of one of the largest Muslim center's in the region -- told the Times-Mirror ADAMS has received an outpouring of support from the community, as well as the interfaith community, since the order was issued.
Still, many at ADAMS are scared, Jaka said.
"It is a chilling effect to say that we are not able to travel freely as American citizens or as green card holders," Jaka said.
WATCH
10th District residents call on Comstock to act
Hours before Kaine's appearance at Dulles, dozens of constituents packed into Congresswoman Comstock's district office in Sterling demanding she be more vocal in opposing the Trump administration's entry ban.
Constituents blasted the congresswoman for not appearing at Dulles Airport for the rallies against the order over the weekend. They said that by not making an appearance she was "complicit" in the confusion.
"We all need to go [to Dulles Airport] and nobody more so than the representative whose district this is. And we need her to fight because representatives have been trying to get people who are coming in here to speak to lawyers," Stella Pekarsky of Ashburn said. "That is fundamental to our democracy. We want her to go fight for that."
Aamer Arshad of Ashburn said Comstock should realize the "slippery slope" Muslims were on, and that it was a "religious test" against citizens from the seven countries.
| Dozens fill Congresswoman Comstock's district office in Sterling demanding she do more on Trump's refugee ban.Times-Mirror/Sydney Kashiwagi |
"How many more will get roped in there tomorrow?" Arshad asked. "What's next? Is it skin color? Is it accents? What is it? A lot of the dictatorships and the tyrants in the world, this is how they start. They take a little, we give in, and then they'll take more."
Comstock's constituents called on their congresswoman to make a statement that "represents us all," clarify the vetting process of those affected by the ban and acknowledge that Trump's order is a "Muslim ban."
Tenth District constituents signed a letter to the congresswoman asking her to "do the right thing" and take a "firm" stance against the order.
Comstock's Deputy Chief of Staff Jeff Marschner said their office has been in contact with ADAMS and is ready to "assist any constituent or family member who is being detained at Dulles Airport."
Marschner said, as of today, their office was not aware of any any constituents affected by the order at Dulles.
The congresswoman said she does not think it is constitutional to ban people from the U.S. "on the basis of religion," and she called on the Trump administration to address concerns of green card holders and legal permanent residents detained at airports be addressed "expeditiously."
See related coverage here: