Just one week after President Trump signed an executive order that halted immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries and closed the borders to all refugees, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the order.
The New York Times reports that Judge James Robart of Federal District Court in Seattle blocked the order on Friday evening, saying that there was “no support” for the Trump administration’s argument that it was protecting the U.S. from terrorists. Judge Robart blocked two specific parts of the order, including the provision that bars immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days, and the ban on all refugees.
As of Saturday morning, U.S. borders have been reopened, and the State Department has reversed its cancellation of visas for people from the seven countries that were formerly banned, according to CNN. The International Air Transportation Association has apparently told its members to act, “as if the executive order never existed.”
As would be expected, the Trump administration has already responded by vowing to ask the Justice Department to file for an emergency stay of the ruling so the immigration ban could continue to be enforced. And of course, President Trump took to Twitter to express his displeasure.
The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017
While the Times reports that airlines haven’t yet reported any kind of uptick in travel since Judge Robart’s ruling, this weekend creates an opportunity for refugees and immigrants to enter the country the way they would have prior to the ban.