Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook, has added her voice to those speaking out about President Trump's temporary ban on immigration. The author of Lean In called on Americans to "remember and honour" history and wrote a long post on her personal Facebook page where she told the story of her great-great-grandmother, Chana Bassa, who left Vilnius, Lithuania, to escape religious persecution. She arrived on Ellis Island in June 1889.

"If Chana had not taken that difficult journey, I would not be here today – my family would almost certainly have perished in the concentration camps of World War II. Her courage – and the fact that this country welcomed her – created my family’s future," Sandberg wrote, in a post which has been "liked" by more than 23,000 people. 

"The Executive Orders issued over the past week defy the heart and valuesthat define the best of our nation. Families have been separated. Frightened children have been detained in airports without their parents. People seeking refuge have been turned away and sent back to the danger they just managed to flee. This is not how it should be in America."

Sandberg particularly flagged up how what she termed as the "harsher immigration climate" was particularly unforgiving for women. "Anything that pulls families apart and traumatizes kids has a huge impact on women and their children," she wrote.