Amid unprecedented chaos at several US airports with large protests erupting over President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on immigration seven Muslim-majority countries, a federal judge ordered the US Government late Saturday to halt deportation of people arriving from the targeted nations.
If the judge’s directive was hailed by protesters as a snub to President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) put out a statement, saying the court ruling would not affect the overall implementation of his executive order clamping a 90-day bar on the entry of people from the seven countries – Iran, Iraq, libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump’s order also bars immigration of Syrian refugees indefinitely, while suspending the overall refugee programme for four months.
“The President’s executive orders remain in place — prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the US Government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety,” the statement said, adding: “No foreign national in a foreign land, without ties to the United States, has any unfettered right to demand entry into the United States or to demand immigration benefits in the United States.”
Unmindful of the global outrage over the order and its enforcement without sufficient notice, the DHS termed the order the “first step towards reestablishing control over America’s borders and national security” and said it would enforce all the President’s Executive Orders to ensure the safety and security of the American people. “We will treat all of those we encounter humanely and with professionalism,” it added.
Granting a stay on deportations after the American Civil liberties Union (AClU) took up the case of people arriving from the seven nations who were faced with the threat of deportation, US District Judge Ann Donnelly said such deportations could cause “irreparable injury” to the refugees who face threats in their home countries or have family members already living in the US.
The White House remained unfazed, with Senior Adviser Stephen Miller commenting: “Nothing in the Brooklyn judge’s order in anyway impedes or prevents the implementation of the President’s executive order which remains in full, complete and total effect.”
About 375 travellers have been impacted one way or the other by the executive order, ABC News reported citing a DHS official. Of that lot, 109 were denied entry at US airports, while 173 were denied entry in a foreign port prior to boarding their flights for the US. Eighty-one other travellers from the seven countries were granted waivers since they were legal permanent residents or had special immigrant visa status.
Hundreds of people protested at the various US airports where the passengers arriving from the seven countries were held up by immigration officials. These included New York’s JFK Airport, Washington’s Dulles Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare, Dallas, los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle and Denver airports.
Trump defends his executive orders, says world a horrible mess
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his controversial executive orders on immigration, borders and extreme vetting of refugees, saying that the world is a ‘horrible mess’ and America needs “strong borders”. “Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!” Trump said in an early morning tweet. In his first week in office as US President, Trump has signed several executive orders that immediately stops entry of refugees and temporarily ban issuing of visas to people from seven Muslim-majority countries and extreme vetting for others.
Iran: Trump’s Muslim ban ‘great gift to extremists’
Tehran: Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said US President Donald Trump’s decision to ban arrivals from seven Muslim-majority countries was “a great gift to extremists”, as Tehran takes retaliatory action on US passport holders. “Collective discrimination aids terrorist recruitment by deepening faultlines exploited by extremist demagogues to swell their ranks, Zarif posted on Twitter early on Sunday.
Zarif’s statement followed an announcement that Iran is taking “reciprocal measures”, deferring the issuance of visas to US passport holders.