Protesters rally against President Donald Trump's refugee ban on Sunday, January 29, 2017 at Miami International Airport. Press Association/C.M. Guerrero/Miami Herald/TNS/ABACA. All rights reserved. Much of the United States and the rest of the world has reacted with shock and dismay at president Donald Trump’s recent travel ban – if not by the content of the executive order, which Trump had telegraphed during the campaign, then at least by the swiftness with which he put it in place, the uncertainty about how to comply with it, and the audacity of an executive-level directive that is so shamelessly xenophobic and anti-Islamic.
The president’s executive order bars immigration from seven countries – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia – for 90 days, suspends new refugee admissions for 120 days, and caps the total number of refugees allowed into the US this year at 50,000 – significantly lower than the 110,000 that the Obama administration had set as a goal for 2017. In response to the order, the Department of Homeland Security has detained people with valid visas at airports, in some cases sending them on return flights back to their home countries. After some confusion, the White House declared that green card holders would be allowed to enter the country, but that they would be considered on a “case-by-case basis” after passing a secondary screening.
Several challenges have been made in federal courts, and judges’ rulings have invariably qualified or suspended Trump’s order: blocking deportations, ordering that detained immigrants be allowed to consult with lawyers, or demanding the immediate release of valid visa-holders from federal detention. Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates ordered the Justice Department not to defend the executive order in court, claiming that it is inconsistent with the Department’s “solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” and that it may be illegal. Trump subsequently fired her.
