Federal
Judge bars enforcement of Trump EO
ACLU
wins legal challenge against immigration ban: ‘Hope Trump enjoys losing’
Hunter Walker 11 hours ago
President
Trump is signing up a storm. (Photo: Getty Images)
The
American Civil Liberties Union announced Saturday evening that a federal court
in New York had issued an emergency stay on President Trump’s executive order
banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The court’s
decision, which will affect people who have been detained in airports, came
after the ACLU and other activist groups filed a class
action lawsuit on behalf of two Iraqis who were held at
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as a result of the order.
“I
hope Trump enjoys losing. He’s going to lose so much we’re going to get sick
and tired of his losing,” ACLU national political director Faiz Shakir told Yahoo
News shortly after the decision was announced.
The
White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the
court ruling.
Trump’s
executive order, which he signed on Friday afternoon, barred people from Sudan,
Syria, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Somalia from entering the United States for
90 days. It also stopped all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and
indefinitely suspended the entry of refugees from Syria. As a result of the
order, some people with current visas have already been detained or turned
around at airports.
The
class action lawsuit sought an immediate injunction barring the Trump
administration from blocking immigrants based on the executive order. It argued
that the order violates a 1965 law that banned discrimination in
immigration based on national origin. According to a copy of
the court decision from Judge Ann Donnelly, it will stop officials from removing
individuals with approved refugee applications, holders of valid visas and
people from the affected countries who have been authorized to enter — pending completion of a
hearing on the matter in court. Donnelly also wrote that the lawsuit would have
a “strong likelihood of success.”
“There
is imminent danger that, absent the stay of removal, there will be substantial
and irreparable injury to refugees, visa holders, and other individuals from
nations subject to the January 27, 2017 executive order,” Donnelly said.
Shakir
said the stay will affect those who are “currently detained in airports” and
that the ACLU’s lawyers “will continue litigating the rest of the people
impacted” by the order.
Trump’s
order has led to large protests at airports around the country. Critics charge
that it amounts to a “Muslim ban,” while Trump and his team have maintained
that the order is not designed to target any specific religion and is merely
aimed at terror-prone nations.
Yahoo
News asked White
House press secretary Sean Spicer about the order during his briefing on
Wednesday. He framed it as a “necessary step” for dealing with people from
countries that have “a propensity to do us harm.” During his presidential bid,
Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the
U.S. That proposal subsequently evolved into a vague promise of “extreme
vetting.”
Trump touted the
executive order while speaking to reporters in the Oval
Office on Saturday. He said the scenes in the airports were evidence of its
success.
“It’s
not a Muslim ban, but we were totally prepared. It’s working out very nicely.
You see it at the airports, you see it all over,” Trump said, according to a
White House press pool report.
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