Trump ban runs into the law
The Trump administration’s immigration order barring citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries and temporarily blocking refugees was in legal limbo on Sunday after an appeals court denied the US department of justice’s request to restore the ban. The overnight ruling dealt a further setback to Trump, who denounced the judge in Seattle who blocked his executive order on Friday.
In tweets and comments to reporters, the president has insisted he will get the ban reinstated.
In a brief order, the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the government’s request for an immediate administrative stay of the judge’s ruling had been denied.
It was awaiting further submissions from the states of Washington and Minnesota on
Sunday, and from the government on Monday.
Trump says the 90-day travel ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and a 120-day bar on all refugees, are necessary to protect the US from Islamist militants.
Critics say the measures are unjustified and discriminatory.
In cities around the world, thousands of people took to the streets this weekend. The biggest demonstration by far on Saturday took place in the British capital, where an estimated 20,000 people turned out, chanting “Theresa May: Shame on You” to denounce the British prime minister’s support for the new US leader.
The protesters marched from the US embassy towards May’s Downing Street office.
In Britain, more than 1.8million people have signed a petition saying Trump should not be afforded a formal state visit because it would embarrass Queen Elizabeth II.
About 3,000 people demonstrated in Trump’s hometown of New York, where protests against the property magnateturned-world leader take place almost daily. In Washington, hundreds marched from the White House to Capitol Hill.
About 1,000 people turned out in both Paris and Berlin, and smaller gatherings of several hundred people were formed in British cities, including Manchester and Birmingham. In Hong Kong, hundreds of expatriate workers marched through the city centre on Sunday to protest against the “tyrannical and fascist” ban, in the Asian hub’s first major protest against Trump.
The judge’s order and the appeal ruling have created what may be a short-lived opportunity for travellers from the seven affected countries to get into the US while the legal uncertainty continues.
An official at Beirut airport said three Syrian families had left for the US via Europe on Sunday morning.
Airline sources in Cairo said that 33 people from the seven affected countries had been allowed to board USbound flights since Saturday.