On January 29, thousands of people lined the DC streets leading up to the White House, nine out of ten holding up brightly colored signs and chanting “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here.” This impromptu protest was created as a Facebook event hours after the ban was enacted and attracted over 8,000 people. The ban affected multiple Middle Eastern countries, preventing some refugees from entering the United States.  

Although it was originally supposed to be a protest, people started to call for a march down to the capital.  The Trump International hotel on the road to the capital did not go unnoticed, as marchers responded with chants like, “welcome to your ninth day!” and even just simply “shame!”

This turned out to be the first in a series of protests in DC and across the nation.  A revised version, which was released a few days ago, states that refugees from Iraq and people with a valid visa card are permitted to enter the U.S. However, the ban still holds the same conditions as its predecessor: only 50,000 refugees will be permitted into the U.S this year in contrast to last year’s 110,000.  

“It’s going against the principle of America- it’s supposed to be the land of the free,” said senior Andrew Coulson.

Several Mason students attended the protest, including senior Austin Yoder.  Like many others, Yoder protested not only to show support for refugees, but to make a statement that young people care about worldly issues as much as everyone else.

“It’s very important that the government and people you’re protesting against know that young people feel this way and are passionate about it,” said Yoder. “We had the lowest election turnout ever, and it really says something because it was such a polarizing election and what we need right now is young people who really care about this kind of stuff because it makes a difference.”