US Travel Ban Takes Effect, New Yorkers Protest

Protesters gathered in New York City’s Union Square on Thursday, June 29, as President Donald Trump’s travel ban took effect.Demonstrators held signs such as “No ban” and “Muslim ban? Hell no,” as seen in this footage.The revised policy, which went into effect on Thursday, imposes a 90-day ban on travelers from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen if they do not have a “bona fide relationship” with a person or entity in the US. The State Department initially said a “parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling, including step-siblings and other step-family relations” are close family, while “grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiances” and other extended family members were not, Reuters reported.The state of Hawaii asked a Honolulu federal judge to clarify the definition of “close family,” according to AP. Journalists reported soon after that the State Department updated it’s definition of “close familial relationship” to include fiances.A group of attorneys on Thursday volunteered at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to help affected passengers, according to CBS.The temporary travel ban was first announced on Jan 27 as a counterterrorism measure. Credit: Instagram/brianmeier via Storyful