A Christian family who were one of the first casualties of the refugee ban are Trump supporters, it has emerged.

On Saturday, hours after the executive order was signed, Sarmad Assali's family were detained at Philadelphia International Airport and sent back to the Middle East.

The two brothers, their wives and two children are all Christians but were victims of the permanent ban on Syrian nationals travelling into the US. They all had green cards and were approved to join Sarmad in Philadelphia.

"I understand he wants to make America safe," said Sarmad after having voted for the Republican in the recent US Presidential election, according to The Grio.

"We're all on with this. I definitely want to be in a safe place. But people need us and we need to be there for them."

She described how they were stopped by security guards at the airport who asked them if they were Syrian before marching them back to a return flight.

"America is not America," said Assali. "Like ISIS now, they ask, 'Are you Christian? What do you believe?' And if they are not saying what they believe, they kick you out and they cut your head off.

"So America, same thing. They ask you are you Muslim? You've got to change your religion. Thank you."

Trump's executive order bans people Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days with those from Syria barred indefinitely. A wholesale halt to the US refugee programme has also been put in place for 120 days.

Trump said the ban was "not about religion" and added in a 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. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order. We will again be issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days."

But there are fears, raised by the UK home secretary Amber Rudd on Tuesday, that the ban could act as a recruiting tool for Islamic State.

Trump has since insisted Christians fleeing persecution would be prioritised in the immigration system but defended the ban.

He told the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) it was "impossible, or at least very tough" for Syrian Christians to enter the United States.

"If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair -- everybody was persecuted, in all fairness -- but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians. And I thought it was very, very unfair. So we are going to help them," he said.