Yesterday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on immigration, halting refugee entrance to the United States for 120 days, refugee immigration from Syria indefinitely, and blocking people from seven majority-Muslim countries—even those with green cards or visas—from entering the United States for the next three months. Trump’s order had an immediate effect on the pop culture world, with Academy Award-nominated director Asghar Farhadi no longer allowed to attend the upcoming Oscars ceremony, and other celebrities refusing to attend or calling for a boycott of the event.
But Trump’s ban—which targets nationals from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen—is affecting people on pretty much every possible scale and corner of the internet. On the macro scale, BBC reports that Google has issued a recall to 100 of its traveling employees to return home, lest they be blocked from the country by zealous (i.e., accurate) execution of Trump’s orders. Microsoft, which, like much of the tech sector, relies on the work of 1st and 2nd-generation immigrants to power its success, issued a statement warning shareholders of the impact of the ban on its business. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg issued a long statement outlining his concerns with Trump’s actions, writing, “Expanding the focus of law enforcement beyond people who are real threats would make all Americans less safe by diverting resources, while millions of undocumented folks who don’t pose a threat will live in fear of deportation.”
On a more human scale, a number of refugees have already been detained at JFK Airport, and even more have been blocked from boarding flights bound for the U.S. Many of these were students with green cards who had the bad luck to be traveling abroad when Trump’s order was signed, while others were experts looking to lend their abilities to medical research fields. According to The New York Times, lawyers for at least one refugee hopeful—an Iraqi man who worked as a translator for the U.S. military—were told “Call Mr. Trump” after asking who to contact about securing freedom for their client.
Opposition to Trump’s order has been quick and outspoken; the ACLU has already lodged a lawsuit in support of those detained by the ban. Meanwhile, protests against the order are already building up steam, while a number of celebrities have taken to social media to denounce the ban.