US media reports say that U.S. President Donald Trump defended his executive order to temporarily halt travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, insisting it was "not a Muslim ban."

The president added that the United States would resume issuing visas to all countries once secure immigration measures were put in place in the next 90 days.

The comments on January 29 came as protests mounted in the United States and abroad and a number of U.S. lawmakers joined the foreign chorus against the measures.

“America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and border.  America has always been the land of the free and home of the brave,” Trump said in an official written statement.

“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion -- this is about terror and keeping our country safe,” he said, noting that more 40 Muslim countries were not affected by the order.

Recall, vowing to protect the country from "foreign terrorists," Trump on January 27 ordered the suspension of immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days until a new vetting process is put in place.  The countries involved in the order were Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen.

The order reportedly resulted in some travelers who had legal authorization to enter the country to be detained at U.S. airports on January 28.  In some cases, they were taken off flights they had already bordered in some foreign countries.

Late January 28, a U.S. federal judge issued a partial stay to the order. Judge Ann Donnelly's order temporarily halted the deportation of people holding valid visas or refugees stranded at airports.

The ruling was issued after lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union filed a court petition on behalf of two Iraqis who were detained at New York's John F. Kennedy airport.  Known as the ACLU, the organization is the one of the leading legal bodies defending civil liberties in the United States.

The order affected up to 200 people detained at U.S. airports or who were in transit, the ACLU said.

Two other federal judges, in Massachusetts and Virginia, issued similar orders for foreign travelers arriving at their region's airports, including Washington's Dulles International Airport, a major arrival point for international travelers.

The order was reportedly also criticized by the countries involved and some of America's closest allies.

In Tehran, Iran summoned Switzerland's ambassador, who represents Washington's interests, to protest the Trump оrder.

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley took the lead over the weekend in corporate resistance to President Donald Trump's clampdown on immigration, financing legal opposition, criticizing the plan, as well as helping employees ensnared by his executive order.  

Bigger companies such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Google (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) offered legal aid to employees affected by the order, according to letters sent to staff, Reuters reports, noting that several Silicon Valley executives donated to legal efforts to support immigrants facing the ban.

Among those affected by the ban was Khash Sajadi, the British-Iranian chief executive of San Francisco-based tech company Cloud 66, who was stuck in London.  Like many tech workers, he holds an H1B visa, which enables foreigners with special expertise to work for U.S. companies, according to Reuters.

Sajadi said he hoped big tech companies such as Google and Facebook would take legal action to protect affected employees.  That could help set a precedent for people in similar situations - but at smaller companies.