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Friday, January 9, 2026

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International arrivals at San Francisco Airport shut down in protest of Trump’s Muslim ban

Emergency response is part of actions all over the country

At 3pm on Saturday, afternoon more than 1,000 angry members of the community made their way to the International Arrivals terminal at San Francisco International Airport after an emergency call was made to protest Trump’s ban on Muslims from 7 countries from entering the nation.

On Friday, Trump banned citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country.

According to a story in the East Bay Times immigration advocates say at least one refugee family is currently being detained in SFO.

By 4pm the police officers managing flow through traffic stood back and allowed the protesters to take over the road. The organizers announced a flight was landing from the UAE at 5pm and requested all present to stay in place until everyone had been cleared through immigration before leaving.

Around 5 pm, protestors entered the international arrival hall at San Francisco airport to demand Homeland Security allow lawyers to go inside to assist people detained at immigration. 

Thousands also descended on Kennedy Airport in New York as part of protests at airports all over the country.

Developing story. We will continue to update.

So far the crowd is staying put until lawyers are allowed in and any families detained at immigration are allowed through. According to sources, there’s at least three Iranians and a Yemeni family currently being detained at San Francisco airport. 

Sana Saleem
Sana Saleem
Sana Saleem is a writer with a focus on social justice and human stories. She's member board of advisory for the Courage Foundation, Edward Snowden's legal defense fund.

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