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Hollywood Reacts With Outrage and Disgust Over Trump’s Immigration Ban

Seth Rogen tweeted, "LA Protest on #Muslimban TODAY 1-5 at Federal Immigration Office, 300 N. Los Angeles St."

By THR staff, Associated Press

Members of Hollywood took to social media on Saturday and Sunday to speak out in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order banning refugees from entering the U.S. The order, signed by Trump on Friday, suspends refugees from entering the country for four months and indefinitely suspends Syrian refugees.

Celebs including Kumail Nanjiani, Ava DuVernay and J.K. Rowling took to Twitter to express disdain towards the president’s actions. Michael Moore tweeted about a Muslim protest occurring in New York, while Seth Rogen tweeted, “LA Protest on #Muslimban TODAY 1-5 at Federal Immigration Office, 300 N. Los Angeles St.” America Ferrera, who recently led a Women’s March against Trump, also voiced support for another protest taking place at the Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday evening.

There was question to whether helmer Asghar Farhadi would be allowed to enter the U.S. to attend the Oscars on Feb. 26 for his film The Salesman, which is nominated in the foreign-language film category. The pic’s star, Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, on Thursday tweeted that she plans on boycotting the awards ceremony in protest of Trump. On Sunday morning, Farhadi announced in a lengthy statement that he would not be attending the Oscars because Trump’s executive order presented “ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip.”

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The president, who signed the order on Friday, which was Holocaust Remembrance Day, said he is establishing “new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America.”

“We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas,” Trump said as he signed the order at the Pentagon. “We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people.”

The “Protection of the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” cancels the US Refugee Admissions program for 120 days. According to the State Department, a 90-day ban affects Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen — all Muslim-majority nations.

Refugees will still be admitted by the U.S. on a case-by-case basis, and the government will still consider requests from those who cite religious persecution. This past year, the U.S. accepted 85,995 refugees, with 12,587 being from Syria. Barack Obama set the limit this year at 110,000.

SAG-AFTRA responded to the immigration ban on Tuesday: “SAG-AFTRA’s membership includes creative professionals from all over the world. This union values equality of opportunity regardless of race, gender, creed, disability, sexual orientation or country of birth. Any public policy that enacts discrimination based on religious or national background runs absolutely counter to those values and will be vigorously resisted. This immigration policy is misguided and we will support our fellow artists every step of the way.”

The Directors Guild of America also issued a statement on Tuesday regarding the order: “The DGA strongly believes that artists — regardless of their national origin, faith, or gender — should be able to come to the United States to showcase their work. Policies that prevent this, without due consideration, should be of concern to all who care about art and cinema. The open exchange of art is core to who we are, it’s what motion pictures and television are increasingly about — drawing humanity together, transcending borders and cultures. The DGA will continue to support the ability of artists to work and share their art in the United States.”

Hillary Clinton took to Twitter amid Saturday night’s protests to say, “I stand with the people gathered across the country tonight defending our values & our Constitution. This is not who we are.” Her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, joined her fellow New Yorkers to protest on Sunday:

A second day of protests were seen by Sunday afternoon. 

Early Tuesday morning, former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager, who’s currently a correspondent for NBC News, shared her George W. Bush’s memorable “Islam is peace” speech, which the then-president delivered just days after 9/11.

See the reactions from many stars in Hollywood below.

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My broken heart goes out to the innocent lives of Muslim refugees that are trying to escape terror and find safety for…

Posted by Jennifer Lawrence on Monday, January 30, 2017

Jan. 31, 7:10 p.m.: Updated to include statement from the DGA and SAG-AFTRA.

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