During the Obama administration, vetting for refugees included in-person interviews overseas, where they provided biographical details about themselves, including their families, friendships, social or political activities, employment, phone numbers, email accounts and more. They also provided biometric information, including fingerprints. Syrians were subject to additional, classified controls that administration officials at the time declined to describe, and processing for that group routinely took years to complete.
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THE RESPONSE AT HOME
Trump’s order sparked an immediate backlash and sowed chaos and outrage, with travelers getting detained at airports, panicked families searching for relatives and protesters marching against the sweeping measure — parts of which were blocked by several federal courts.
Protests were held across the country, including in sight of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York City and at international airports where travelers were temporarily detained.
