Federal judge grants emergency stay for those detained under Trump’s travel ban

At least three federal judges in New York, Massachusetts and Virginia have temporarily halted parts of Trump’s executive order, blocking the deportation of those coming into the country with valid visas and others who are legally authorized to enter the country.

The comments came the morning after a federal judge issued an emergency order temporarily barring the US from deporting people from seven majority Muslim nations subject to Trump’s travel ban. He also banned Syrian refugees from entering the country indefinitely.

White House officials said the policy is created to protect American borders and to restrict the entry of terror suspects. The requirements to get a waiver remain unclear.

“We share the concerns about the impact of the executive order on our employees from the listed countries, all of whom have been in the United States lawfully, and we’re actively working with them to provide legal advice and assistance”, the company said in a statement.

The order barred USA border agents from removing anyone who arrived in the US with a valid visa from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

Shortly after noon on Saturday, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, an interpreter who worked on behalf of the United States government in Iraq, was released.

At least one case quickly prompted a legal challenge as lawyers representing two Iraqi refugees held at Kennedy International Airport in NY filed a motion early Saturday seeking to have their clients released.

However, the judges’ rulings appear to be limited to people who were already at the US airports at the time of the ban’s announcement and so does not seem to suggest exceptions would be made for people arriving in the future with previously issued visas.

The US admitted a record number of 38,901 Muslim refugees in 2016, according to a study conducted by Pew.

Protestors rally during a demonstration against the immigration ban for seven Muslim-majority countries at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017, in New York City.

In short, it was a brazen political move; a deliberate bit of theatre designed in the White House to reinforce Mr. Trump’s image as a crusading leader who is unafraid to protect his supporters from a religion he has demonized as a threat.

A federal judge tonight granted the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for a nationwide temporary injunction that will block the deportation of all people stranded in USA airports under President Trump’s new Muslim ban. You see it at the airports. Again, there is the possibility of case-by-case exceptions, including for persecuted religious minorities.

Further protests are planned for major airports across the country today after crowds turned out at JFK in NY, O’Hare in Chicago and elsewhere last night in support of detained passengers. “Call it what you want, it is about keeping bad people (with bad intentions) out of country”, he tweeted.