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(Reuters) President Donald Trump's sweeping ban on people seeking refuge in the United States and visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries caused confusion and panic among travelers on Saturday, with some turned back from U.S.-bound flights.

"Extreme xenophobia."

World leaders slams Donald Trump's #MuslimBan https://t.co/pSbmvBssXc pic.twitter.com/dOcfa1yznV

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 28, 2017

where was all this #ExtremeVetting when we were asking for Trump's tax returns (which we STILL don't have) ??

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer) January 28, 2017

Immigration lawyers in New York sued to block the order, saying numerous people have already been unlawfully detained.

Muslim leaders to file lawsuit against Donald Trump’s refugee ban https://t.co/6dpkCSSBeZ pic.twitter.com/I1SNoOumYR

— The Independent (@Independent) January 28, 2017

The new Republican president on Friday put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries. He said the moves would protect Americans from terrorism.

"Analysis of terrorist attacks on US soil 1975-2015...found foreign nationals from those seven countries have killed zero Americans" https://t.co/ME45gA1X2u

— Claire Phipps (@Claire_Phipps) January 27, 2017

US now looking at two children - one Christian, one Muslim - and saying: "You, your life is worth saving. You, yours isn't." #ExtremeVetting

— ChristianChristensen (@ChrChristensen) January 27, 2017

FACT: Terrorism by Muslims makes up just .0033% of all murders in the U.S. #ExtremeVetting https://t.co/cB572aRhXc pic.twitter.com/0IZsLbCFBk

— The Baxter Bean (@TheBaxterBean) January 28, 2017

Want A Safer Amer? Instead of inflicting more pain on suffering people-How about #ExtremeVetting before ALL #gun purchases? @realDonaldTrump

— W Smith *RESIST* (@WesSmith123) January 28, 2017

The executive order prompted fury from Arab travelers in the Middle East and North Africa who said it was humiliating and discriminatory. It drew widespread criticism from U.S. Western allies including France and Germany, Arab American groups, human rights organizations.

"This is a stupid, terrible decision which will hurt the American people more than us or anybody else, because it shows that this President can’t manage people, politics or global relationships," said Najeed Haidari, a Yemeni-American security manager for an oil company in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

There are tears running down the cheeks of the Statue of Liberty tonight. pic.twitter.com/X6q40dMCsN

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 27, 2017

#DonaldTrump executive order prompts Google to recall staff https://t.co/WmbITKR170 #MuslimBan #ExtremeVetting pic.twitter.com/ZTguEGnNr2

— Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) January 28, 2017

The bans affect travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and even extends to green card holders who are granted authorization to live and work in the United States, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman.

In Cairo, five Iraqi passengers and one Yemeni were barred from boarding an EgyptAir flight to New York on Saturday, sources at Cairo airport said.

The passengers, arriving in transit to Cairo airport, were stopped and re-directed to flights headed for their home countries despite holding valid visas, the sources said.

@aayoub @BBCKimGhattas My father is a green card holder, he will be traveling soon, should I say bye forever to him? is this real?

— Independent Muslim (@firstmuslim) January 28, 2017

House GOP source says exec order is supposed to have exemption for ppl in transit

Seems clear rollout allowed much confusion among agencies

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 28, 2017

Propublica: Trump Executive Order Could Block 500,000 Legal U.S. Residents From Returning to America From Tripshttps://t.co/XPTdsVid8l

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 28, 2017

That the President of the United States would order on Holocaust Memorial Day the banning of a people due to their religion is reprehensible

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 28, 2017

This could've been our refugee policy, but you made a protest vote. #ExtremeVetting https://t.co/yME3TltdQt

— Ess (@ScottyLiterati) January 28, 2017

Lawyers from numerous immigration organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union sued in federal court in Brooklyn on behalf of two Iraqi men, one a former U.S. government worker and the other the husband of a former U.S. security contractor.

The two men had visas to enter the United States but were detained on Friday night at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, hours after Trump's executive order, the lawsuit said.

Customs and border patrol agents at many airports were unaware of the executive order early on in the evening, said Mana Yegani, an immigration lawyer in Houston, who works with the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Yegani and her fellow lawyers worked through the night fielding calls from travelers with student and worker visas who were being denied entry into the United States and ordered on flights back to Muslim-majority countries on the list.

Green card holders were also being stopped and questioned for several hours. Officials also denied travelers with dual Canadian and Iranian citizenship from boarding planes in Canada that were headed the United States, she said.

"These are people that are coming in legally. They have jobs here and they have vehicles here," Yegani said.

Those with visas from Muslim-majority countries have gone through background checks with U.S. authorities, Yegani noted.

"Just because Trump signed something at 6 p.m. yesterday, things are coming to a crashing halt," she said. "It's scary."

Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway reaffirmed the president's decision in a Twitter post on Saturday.

Get used to it. @POTUS is a man of action and impact.
Promises made, promises kept.
Shock to the system.
And he's just getting started https://t.co/AoUsZWClXt

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) January 28, 2017

"@POTUS is a man of action and impact. Promises made, promises kept. Shock to the system. And he's just getting started," she tweeted.

Trump's visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not,I won't attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest pic.twitter.com/CW3EF6mupo

— Taraneh Alidoosti (@t_alidoosti) January 26, 2017

(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, David Ingram in New York and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Mary Milliken)

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