Protests have erupted at JFK airport in New York after 13 people were detained this morning (28 January).

A group of demonstrators gathered outside the airport after news of the detentions spread, with signs objecting to US President Donald Trump's ban on people travelling from Syria and six other majority-Muslim countries.

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Lawyers for two Iraqi refugees, who were among those detained, have filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump over the incident, CNN reported.

One of the Iraqi men, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, was travelling to the US on a special immigration visa granted to him due to his work for the US as an interpreter during the Iraq War. He was released and is expected to be allowed to remain in the country as he had the legal documents required to travel.

However, the other Iraqi man, Haider Sameer Abdulkaleq Alshawi, is still being detained, despite also having the correct travel documents, according to court papers seen by CNN.

Both men were detained following Trump's signature in an executive order preventing entry to the US indefinitely for Syrian refugees and for 90 days for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia.

"I'm establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America," Trump said when signing the executive order, The Hill reported.

"We don't want them here. We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. We only want to admit those into our country who support our country and love deeply our people."

Trump's ban was criticised both on social media and by protesters at JFK, who held signs calling for an end to the ban and the release of detainees at the airport.

"We're here to tell Trump that we are not going anywhere," protest organizer, lawyer and refugee advocate Jacki Esposito told NBC New York.

"Today is the beginning of a long opposition from us, and our neighbours all over the country."

Protesters were joined by representatives from the New York Taxi Workers Aliance, who said they faced discrimination from people who disliked Muslims.

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