Yemeni-Americans close businesses in New York to protest travel ban
The protest was coordinated and organised by the Muslim Community Network and the Yemeni American Community.
Demonstrators participate in a protest by the Yemeni community against US President Donald Trump's travel ban in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, February 2, 2017.
Hundreds of New York City grocery stores and restaurants owned by Yemeni Americans closed for hours on Thursday in protest against US President Donald Trump's immigration policies, organisers said.
Loyal customers, who rely on the stores for staples of daily life, had to look elsewhere for lunch after more than 1,000 locations shut their doors from noon to 8 pm in a move coordinated by groups including the Muslim Community Network and the Yemeni American Community.
The protests followed the decision by Trump's administration to put a four-month hold on letting refugees into the United States and to temporarily bar travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries: Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Somalia.
"Whatever this President is doing, Donald Trump, he's violating American rights and he's violating the constitution. And this is discrimination," says Mohammed Ali, a shopkeeper.
TRT World's Lorna Shaddick reports from New York City.
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