A judicial order on Saturday night stayed the deportation of people from seven Muslim-majority countries who arrived in the U.S after President Donald Trump barred their entry into the country through an executive order on Friday.
The judicial order does not deal with the merit of the executive order issued by Mr. Trump that could be deemed unconstitutional as it effectively sanctions religious discrimination.
Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of American Civil Liberties Union that challenged the presidential decision in the court on behalf of two travelers from Iraq who were detained at the JKF airport in New York, said: "Our courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse or unconstitutional policies and orders. On Week One, Donald Trump suffered his first loss in court.”
The New York court order extends to all of America and provides relief to people in similar situations but at least three more court rulings on similar lines have been reported from other States by Saturday night.
"World - a horrible mess"
"Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!” Mr. Trump tweeted on Sunday morning.
As the world watched with dismay Mr. Trump's extreme though not unexpected move, protests erupted across America, particularly at airports where travelers were detained. Sergey Brin – a Russian immigrant and cofounder of Google – was among the protesters at San Francisco International Airport. "Welcome home," protesters chanted at Washington's Dulles airport as two Iranian permanent residents in the U.S, aged 88 and 83, rolled out on wheelchairs after being detained for hours. "We are all Muslims now," said a placard at JFK airport.
Before the court order Mr. Trump said the travel restrictions did not amount to a ban on Muslims. "It's not a Muslim ban… very strict ban, and we're going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years," he said in the Oval Office, as he signed another executive order, to prepare within 30 days a blueprint for defeating the IS. "It's working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over," Mr. Trump said.
What happened to his promise?
Mr. Trump has said he will help Christians in Syria, but a Christian family of six that obtained U.S visas after a 15-year process was possibly the first victims of his travel ban. On immigrant visas meant for siblings for U.S citizens, the family was detained and put back on a plane to Doha when they arrived at the Philadelphia airport on Saturday. They were not allowed to speak to their relatives and unaware of the legal options available, agreed to board a return flight.
"This family was sent home despite having all their paperwork in order," Charlie Dent, a Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania, said. "So this 90-day ban could imperil the lives of this family and potentially others, and it's unacceptable, and I urge the administration to halt enforcement of this order until a more thoughtful and deliberate policy can be reinstated."
But the more prominent among his Republican colleagues – who had during the campaign appeared to be questioning Mr. Trump’s eligibility to be President – are either silent or favouring the travel ban. As the 'NoBanNoWall' protests gripped America, House Speaker Paul Ryan defended the Presidential order and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has remained silent.
Detainees include green card holders
Those detained or not allowed to travel to American include holders of permanent residency permits – popularly called green cards – students and business people. One of the two Iraqis detained in New York worked for the American military as an interpreter. A CNN report said the White House overruled the opinion of career officials in the Department of Homeland Security that legal permanent residents cannot be denied entry into the U.S.
Lee Gelernt, an ACLU official argued the case in New York said: “This ruling preserves the status quo and ensures that people who have been granted permission to be in this country are not illegally removed off U.S. soil.”
Conflict of interest?
Mr. Trump’s selection of seven countries that figure in the list has also brought into focus questions of conflicts of interests that have been haunting his presidency from the word go. The seven countries have not been the source of any terrorism in the U.S while countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt that are connected to incidents of terrorism in the U.S are not included in the list. Several commentators have linked this to Mr. Trump’s business links – while he has business interests in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Qatar, he has none in the seven listed countries.
