Trump's travel ban sparks mass confusion as conflicting details emerge

The Trump administration is showing no signs of backing down from anexecutive orderbarring citizens from sevenMuslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., butever-changing details about how the sweeping new rules shouldbe enforced are sowingchaos and confusion.

Trump issued the order early Friday evening, creating confusion fortravellers overthe weekend as foreign governments tried to grapple with how the rules would affect their citizens.

For Canadians, the U.S. State Department initially said the ban covered dual citizens of Canada and any of the seven countries Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. By Saturday night, the Prime Minister's Office assured all Canadian citizensthey could move freely across the border. By Sunday afternoon, the scope was widened to include all Canadian permanent residents.

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It's still not entirely clear what this means fordual nationals in other countries.

The U.K. foreign office put out a statement saying U.K. citizens who share nationality with any of the banned countries can travel freely to the U.S., but will face extra security checks if they aretravelling directlyfrom one of the blacklisted countries.

But on the ground, some people's stories appeared to contradict the official line. One Scottish national who has an Iranian passportwas not permitted to fly home from a Costa Rican holiday via New York, the BBC reports.

'Case-by-case basis'

Green card holderswho have passports from the sevencountries were originally told they would be banned, but U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Sunday said they would be processed on a "case-by-case" basis."

Later, Homeland Security SecretaryJohn Kelly issued a statement saying: "I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest."

Green card holders are considered permanent residents in the U.S.

Nevertheless, Kellyreiterated that U.S.permanent residents trying to enter the country would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

'We're really in a crisis mode'

Meanwhile, chaos and outrage reigned across the country Sunday, with travellers detained at airports, panicked families searching for relatives, and protesters registering opposition to the sweeping measure that was blocked by several federal courts.

Attorneys struggled to determine how many people had been affected so far by the rules, which Trump said Saturday were "working out very nicely."

Critics described widespread confusion, with an untold number of travellers being held in legal limbo because of ill-defined procedures.

Lawyers manned tables at New York's Kennedy Airport to offer help to families whose loved ones had been detained, and some 150 Chicago-area lawyers showed up at O'Hare Airport after getting an email asking for legal assistance on behalf of travellers.

"We just simply don't know how many people there are and where they are," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project.

The executive director of National Immigration Law Center, Marielena Hincapie, said "this is just the beginning."

"We're really in a crisis mode, a constitutional crisis mode in our country, and we're going to need everyone," she said. "This is definitely one of those all-hands-on-deck moments."

Trump team doubles down

Chief of Staff Reince Priebuson Sundayinsistedthere wasn't chaos at U.S. airports and he would "apologize for nothing."

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"I mean, the fact of the matter is 325,000 people from foreign countries came into the United States yesterday and 109 people were detained for further questioning. Most of those people were moved out," he told NBC'sMeet the Presson Sunday.

4 states move to block order enforcement

U.S. judges in at least four states blocked federal authorities from detaining or deporting citizens from thosecountries who have U.S. visas or green cards or who are refugees.

Judges in Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington state, each home to major international airports, issued their rulings late Saturday or early Sunday, following an order on Saturday night by U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York's Brooklyn borough.

Donnelly had ruled in a lawsuit by two men from Iraq being held at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

While none of the rulings struck down the executive order, the growing number of orders could complicate the administration's effort to enforce it.

The ACLUestimatedthe ruling would help as many as 200 people who have valid visas, but were caught up after the executive order at airports across the U.S.

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement Sunday saying they 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."

"We are also working closely with airline partners to prevent travellers 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," the statement read.

Some Republicans against ban on Muslims

Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that Trump's ordermay do more to help recruit terrorists than improve U.S. security.

"Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism," they said in a statement, adding that the U.S.should not stop green card holders "from returning to the country they call home."

Trump responded in a tweet, calling the pair "weak on immigration."

Order 'incompetent, ineffective': Democrats

Protests were held at airports across the U.S. on both Saturday and Sunday against Trump's decision, which he announcedone week into his presidency, framing it as important to fightterrorism.

Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington state, said Trump's order could have damaging consequences.

"This is probably the most incompetent, ineffective, unconsciously provocative and dangerous action of any government I have ever seen, and it's very disappointing to see our federal government create chaos in our nation."