Trump immigration orders spark a large protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa

Over 1,000 people gathered outside the US Embassy in Ottawa at noon on Monday to protest President Donald Trump’s executive orders temporarily prohibiting travel and immigration into the U.S. for people from seven Muslim-majority countries. The orders also stop refugees from entering the U.S. A heavy police and security presence in the area likely thwarted the original plan to form a human chain around the large embassy building. The peaceful demonstration instead stayed confined to the York Steps between Sussex Drive and Mackenzie Avenue.

The demonstration was organized by several refugee support organizations that want the Trump administration to rescind the executive order. Adam Gilani, one of the leaders of the demonstration said a message needed to be sent to the government that a more compassionate approach is needed. One of the demonstrators was Elliane, a University of Ottawa student who studies human rights. She said her classes have led her to become more involved in activism, and added she wanted to show solidarity with the others.

Demonstrator Bill Clelland knows someone who has been personally affected by the travel restrictions. He had sponsored a 19 year-old refugee from Syria who is now attending college near Chicago. He said that the future of her education is now uncertain because of the President’s order. I spoke with a friend on Sunday evening who told me about a similar situation about an Iraqi-Canadian student he knows attending Medaille College in Buffalo.

The embassy demonstration was about the orders on immigration and refugees, but it was clear that a lot of the displeasure in the crowd was directed specifically to President Trump himself. Unflattering homemade signs were prominent and comments questioning the President’s mental stability were commonly heard. One sign blamed the President for causing the attack on a mosque in Quebec City on Sunday night that left six people dead.

There was a strongly positive feel to much of the demonstration, though. Many demonstrators were celebrating Canada’s openness to refugees and religious tolerance—an echo of comments made over the weekend by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In Parliament, later in the afternoon, Trudeau, along with opposition party leaders, openly decried the tragedy that had taken place in Quebec City.

Protests outside the US embassy in Ottawa are very rare. The economy, culture, language, and religious faiths of Canada and the U.S. are so closely related. Many Canadians are more familiar with the United States than they are with their home country. I spoke with one protester who was wearing a Canadian and American flag fastened to each other on his back. “I did this because we’re both tied together.”

Tags: canada, executive order, immigration, ottawa, Trump