A wild day in which dual citizens and green-card holders flying in from Iran and other countries were detained at O’Hare Airport ended with traffic to the international terminal temporarily shut down by thousands of protesters.
Despite the traffic shutdown, the terminal remained open for business.
The crowd gathered outside the terminal Saturday night to block arriving traffic to the airport. Chicago aviation police said drivers were driving the wrong way down the street to get out, and they blocked anyone from entering.
Some travelers joined the protest, while others were angry.
“The city of Chicago and Rahm Emanuel should be ashamed,” said Patrice Hollander of Barrington, who arrived at O’Hare Saturday. “This is insanity at the highest level. They can’t control the streets and apparently they can’t control the airport either.”
Police were telling people to take shuttle buses to other terminals to get out of the airport. The shuttles were totally packed.
By midnight, after the detainees were released, roads to the terminal were reopened to traffic, authorities said.
Chicago Police said no one was arrested in the protest.
