Trump fires acting attorney general
Obama holdover refused to defend refugee ban in court
President Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates Monday night after the Obama holdover refused to defend his controversial refugee ban in court.
Yates said Monday that she will not defend in court the president’s executive order that suspends immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. Three hours later, the White House announced that she had been relieved of her duties.
“Ms. Yates is an Obama administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration,” said a statement from the White House that appeared to be in Trump’s own voice.
Trump appointed Dana Boente, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to serve as acting attorney general until his nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, can be confirmed by the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Tuesday vote on Sessions, who has closely advised Trump on immigration matters.
Yates was deputy attorney general under President Obama and has been serving as acting acting attorney general since Loretta Lynch resigned on Inauguration Day.
“I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” said Yates in a letter to Justice Department attorneys. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful.
“Consequently, for as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so,” wrote Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration.
Senate Democrats have objected to Sessions’ nomination, and Minority Leader Charles
Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday on CNN that Sessions should have to disclose his opinion of Trump’s immigration order before the Senate votes on his nomination.
Trump responded to Yates via Twitter, characterizing the action as a “political” move to block his agenda.
“Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons,” Trump tweeted. “They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.”
Trump adviser Stephen Miller told MSNBC Monday that Yates’ decision is “a further demonstration of how politicized our legal system has become,” so much so that “you have people refusing to enforce our laws.” Miller said the president clearly has the legal authority to bar people from entry into the country for national security reasons.
But former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted late Monday that Yates’ “judgement should be trusted.”
Trump’s executive order had been reviewed by the Justice De- partment Office of Legal Counsel before it was issued Friday. The OLC, whose authority narrowly addresses the form and whether the order is properly drafted, approved the order.
But the OLC “did not address whether any policy choice embodied in an executive order is wise or just,” Yates wrote. “My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts.”
Yates’ order follows a chaotic weekend where lawyers flooded courtrooms to try and halt the deportation of people who had arrived after Trump signed his executive order. A federal judge in New York issued an emergency, nationwide stay late Saturday barring the federal government from any more deportations.
Immigration advocacy groups have started filing broader lawsuits challenging the overall legality of Trump’s order.
A group of Michigan immigrants filed a suit in federal court in Virginia on Monday challenging the order on religious grounds. That suit claims Trump’s order discriminates against Muslims and violates constitutional protections for the free exercise of religion.
A separate lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle on Monday claims that Trump’s order violates a federal law that prohibits discrimination against immigrants based on their country of origin. That lawsuit was filed on behalf of U.S.-based parents trying to reunite with their children in Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and one of the attorneys in the suit, acknowledged that a president had broad powers to oversee the nation’s immigration system. Federal law allows a president to bar entry to any immigrant, or entire classes of immigrants, if the president deems them “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
But the lawsuit claims that Trump overstepped his legal authority by temporarily suspending all immigration from seven entire countries. It points to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which forbids discrimination based on a person’s nationality or country of origin.
“While the president has certain powers, he doesn’t have power to defy this clause,” Adams said.
Democrats in Congress have offered legislation to overturn Trump’s order, but they have not gathered any Republican support. Democrats staged a protest on the steps of the Supreme Court Monday evening to rail against the executive order.
“For as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order.” Sally Yates