Donald Trump slams judge for halting ‘Muslim ban’ and instructs Homeland Security to check people ‘carefully’
The US president tweeted that people were now 'pouring in' and said blame lay with the courts if 'something happens'
DONALD Trump has taken to Twitter to launch another attack on a judge who derailed his ‘Muslim ban’.
The US president claimed the judge who suspended his travel restrictions on people from certain countries had put America “in peril”.
Trump said he had asked border officials to be especially vigilant but said blame lay with the courts if “something happens”.
The president tweeted: “Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril.
“If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!”
He later added: “I have instructed Homeland Security to check people coming into our country VERY CAREFULLY.
“The courts are making the job very difficult!”
The Republican leader yesterday slammed the "so-called" judge and accused him of taking away the power of law enforcement from the USA.
The 70-year-old also vowed to overturn the judgement which shut down certain aspects of his controversial executive order and effectively suspended the ban.
The ruling was made on Friday by Judge James L. Robart in a case brought by Washington state's attorney general Bob Ferguson.
After the temporary restraining order was granted, which allows the Customs and Border Protection Agency to reinstate visas, Ferguson said: “No one is above the law — not even the President.”
The ruling effectively dismantled Donald Trump’s executive order that banned people from the Muslim majority countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from travelling to the US.
The State Department confirmed that it was adhering to the court's decision and that it would reinstate some 60,000 visas cancelled under the order.
In a statement, they said: "Those individuals with visas that were not physically cancelled may now travel if the visa is otherwise valid."
The Trump administration said the court ruling was “outrageous” and vowed to file an “emergency stay” to overturn it.
Trump tweeted: "When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot , come in & out, especially for reasons of safety & security - big trouble!"
He added: "The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!"
Executive orders are subject to legal review and are not laws passed by Congress.
Their use is often controversial and is intended to instruct federal agencies how to work within the laws passed by the Senate and House of Representatives.
The ruling prohibits any government official from enforcing key aspects of the order which blocks entry to the US by anyone born in certain Muslim majority countries for three months.
Judge Robart made his ruling effective immediately yesterday, suggesting that travel restrictions could be lifted straight away.
"This decision shuts down the executive order right now," Ferguson explained.
He also said he expected the federal government to honour the ruling.
"It's a wonderful day for the rule of law in this country," said Washington state solicitor general Noah Purcell.
President Trump has put in place a temporary travel ban for people coming to the US from seven mainly Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
He has been criticised for excluding Turkey, Egypt and Saudia Arabia, despite many jihadists coming from and operating in these countries.
The new Republican president's order signed on January 27 triggered chaos at US airports last weekend. Some travellers abroad were turned back from flights into the United States, crowds of hundreds of people packed into arrival areas to protest and legal objections were filed across the country.
The challenge was brought by the state of Washington and later joined by the state of Minnesota. The Seattle judge ruled that the states have legal standing to sue, which could help Democratic attorneys general take on Trump in court on issues beyond immigration.
The decision came on a day that attorneys from four states were in courts challenging Trump's executive order. The Trump administration justified the action on national security grounds, but opponents labelled it an unconstitutional order targeting people based on religious beliefs.
Earlier on Friday, a federal judge in Boston declined to extend a temporary restraining order that allowed some immigrants into the United States from countries affected by Trump's three-month ban.
Also on Friday in Virginia, a federal judge ordered the White House to provide a list of all people stopped from entering the United States by the travel ban.
The State Department said on Friday that fewer than 60,000 visas previously issued to citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen had been invalidated as a result of the order. That disclosure followed media reports that government lawyers were citing a figure of 100,000.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia ordered the federal government to give the state a list by Thursday of "all persons who have been denied entry to or removed from the United States."
The state of Hawaii on Friday joined the challenge to the order, filing a lawsuit alleging that the order is unconstitutional and asking the court to block the order across the country.
The order also temporarily stopped the entry of all refugees into the country and indefinitely halted the settlement of Syrian refugees.
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