TURNING AWAY THE ST. LOUIS:

Trump signed the order, titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States," on International Holocaust Remembrance Day- a decision that riled American Jewish groups.

"The terrorist threat attributed to refugees is a cruel and distracting fiction, especially when viewed against the actual incidence of mass violence committed with chilling frequency- in schools, churches, shopping malls and other venues- against Americans by Americans," the American Jewish Committee said in a strong statement. "Blanket suspensions of visas and refugee admission would suggest guilt by association- targeted primarily at Muslims fleeing violence and oppression."

Several Jewish human rights organizations, including T'ruah, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and Bend the Arc, mobilized on Friday to fight Trump's action in courts of law and public opinion. So too did the Anti-Defamation League, which vowed a "relentless fight" against an order that it characterized as a fundamental challenge to Jewish values.

"History will look back on this order as a sad moment in American history- the time when the president turned his back on people fleeing for their lives," reads the ADL statement. "This will effectively shut America's doors to the most vulnerable people in the world who seek refuge from unspeakable pain and suffering."

"Our history and heritage compel us to take a stand," it adds.

Over 1,700 American rabbis signed a letter in support of the US refugee resettlement program, and nearly 600 Soviet Jews who emigrated to the US signed a petition in opposition to Trump's decision "to close America's doors to vulnerable refugees desperately seeking our protection."

"Ending all admission of refugees? A religious test for those admitted to the country? Legal immigrants denied reentry? Ugly all around," wrote Dan Shapiro, former ambassador to Israel under US President Barack Obama, describing himself as "sickened" by the move.

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