Hours after a federal judge issued a stay on President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily restricting entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a senior White House adviser issued robust responses, emphasizing that the order remains in force.
In a statement issued in the early hours of Sunday, the Department said: “President Trump’s Executive Orders remain in place — prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety.”
It added that the department will “continue to enforce all of President Trump’s Executive Orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people.”
In addition, Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the White House, told the Associated Press that nothing in the judge’s order “in anyway impedes or prevents the implementation of the president’s executive order which remains in full, complete and total effect.”
The responses came just hours after federal Judge Ann Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York granted an emergency stay on parts of the order late Saturday. Her ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of two Iraqi refugees who had been detained at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.
The stay will prevent the government from deporting citizens from the affected countries that had already arrived in the U.S.The ACLU estimated that around 200 people would be affected by the ruling.
For travelers outside of the U.S. however, even those with valid visas, the ruling will not change the restrictions imposed on them by the order.
WHO IS AFFECTED BY TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER?
- Citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen will be prohibited from entering the U.S. for 90 days.
- Green card holders from any of those countries currently outside of the U.S. will need to report to a local U.S. consulate for “extra vetting,” and admitted or rejected on a case-by-case basis, according to administration officials.
- Refugees seeking asylum in the U.S.: All refugees will be banned from entering the country for 120 days. Refugees from Syria will be banned indefinitely.
- Anyone with U.S. citizenship will not be affected.
A DHS spokesperson on Saturday told the Associated Press that foreign-born U.S. residents who could have been barred from re-entering the United States under Trump’s immigration order have been allowed back into the country.
The official said all green card holders from the seven countries who sought to enter the U.S. Saturday were granted special permission
source”cnbc”
