Economist Channel

Confusion, protests and the specter of a constitutional showdown erupted at the nation's international airports this weekend, as federal authorities detained hundreds of people in compliance with President Donald Trump's executive order barring citizens of seven mostly Muslim nations from entering the U.S.

Judges in at least four cities hastily issued rulings blocking parts of the orders in response to emergency challenges filed by the ACLU and other civil rights attorneys, sparking jubilation among thousands of protesters who had flocked to airport terminals around the nation to "welcome" migrants and oppose the immigration ban.

However, it was unclear how many people were still being held in airports as of Monday morning. Although dozens of detainees were reportedly released, lawyers reported Sunday evening that they were being barred by Customs and Border Protection officers from seeing those still held in custody, despite orders by at least two judges that the detainees be allowed access to legal counsel.

Hundreds more immigrants, visitors and refugees scheduled to fly to the U.S. but who had not yet boarded aircraft were stopped at their points of departure, effectively stranding them as a result of the immigration prohibitions.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, sent a letter Sunday to the Department of Homeland Security seeking more information about anyone still being held at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

More than a dozen other attorneys general also issued a statement decrying Trump's executive order.

The order, signed by Trump in a televised ceremony Friday afternoon, prohibits entry for 120 days by any citizen of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen, as well as any refugee awaiting resettlement. The order was initially seen to apply to legal permanent residents – or green-card holders – and dual U.S. citizens who also have citizenship in any of the seven named countries, but officials on Sunday said that any U.S. citizen and most green-card holders would be exempt "going forward."

Federal judges in Boston, Brooklyn, Seattle and Alexandria, Virginia, found in separate but similar rulings that the order went too far too quickly. Judge Ann M. Donnelly, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, issued a nationwide injunction that froze potential deportations of those who had already arrived and were being detained in U.S. airports.

The rulings are effectively provisional, but civil rights groups hailed the outcomes as an important first step.

“Clearly the judge understood the possibility for irreparable harm to hundreds of immigrants and lawful visitors to this country," ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said in a statement Saturday after Donnelly's ruling. "Our courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse or unconstitutional policies and orders."

The orders, however, also set a potential showdown between the executive and judicial branches of the federal government. After Donnelly's injunction, rumors soon swirled that some immigration authorities – overseen by the Department of Homeland Security – were ignoring the order. Donnelly, meanwhile, had ordered the U.S. Marshals Service, which is part of the Department of Justice, to enforce her injunction.

The New York Times reported that Gen. John Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, learned about the order only as Trump was signing it. The Department of Homeland Security eventually issued a statement affirming it was complying with the order.

"We are and will remain in compliance with judicial orders. We are and will continue to enforce President Trump's executive order humanely and with professionalism," the agency said in the statement.

"We are committed to ensuring that all individuals affected by the executive orders, including those affected by the court orders, are being provided all rights afforded under the law," the statement read. "We are also working closely with airline partners to prevent travelers who would not be granted entry under the executive orders from boarding international flights to the U.S. Therefore, we do not anticipate that further individuals traveling by air to the United States will be affected."