Wide cross-section of residents protest Trump travel ban tonight in downtown Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN

Stefanie Wagner-Ryan of Cortland came to a rally in downtown Youngstown clad in a pink Women’s March hat while carrying a sign that read, “I will trade one president for 10,000 refugees.”

Wagner-Ryan was one of about 100 people who turned out Friday afternoon at Central Square downtown for a demonstration billed as the Rally for Freedom and Justice.

Civic and religious leaders spoke against President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. The order also included a 120-day suspension of the refugee program.

A federal judge, however, temporarily blocked the order after a legal challenge filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, and another federal judge, in Seattle, granted another nationwide delay Friday night.

Representatives from the Arab-American Cultural & Educational Center of Youngstown, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Youngstown and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown spoke in support of immigrants and refugees.

“Treating one group of people unfairly and unjustly is a threat to us all,” said the Rev. Kenneth Simon of the Youngstown Community Mobilization Coalition. “We don’t need a wall, but we need to build bridges of peace and opportunity for all.”

Read more about the event in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.