New York judge rules against Trump’s Executive Order on detention immigrants, impact on legal visitors
President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration and border security angered many liberals and leftists so it’s no surprise that a New York Federal judge sided with an ACLU for a block on the order to ban immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S..
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly ruled in favor of a habeas corpus petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of two Iraqi men who were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday after Trump signed his order.
Donnelly issued an emergency stay temporarily halting the removal of individuals detained and their potential deportation.
photo by Okan Caliskan via Pixabay
“This ruling preserves the status quo and ensures that people who have been granted permission to be in this country are not illegally removed off U.S. soil,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
The ruling deals with a portion of Trump’s order handed down Friday, which bars Syrian refugees indefinitely and halts the resettlement of all refugees for four months as the administration reviews the vetting process.
The order also denies entry for 90 days for all individuals from Syria and six other predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.
“Clearly the judge understood the possibility for irreparable harm to hundreds of immigrants and lawful visitors to this country,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said in a statement.
“President Trump and his administration are right to be concerned about national security, but it’s unacceptable when even legal permanent residents are being detained or turned away at airports and ports of entry,” Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) said in a statement.
The Department of Homeland Security said Trump’s order would also apply to green card holders from the seven impacted countries.
A senior administration official said green card holders from the affected countries who are currently outside the U.S. will need a case-by-case waiver to return to the U.S. and green card holders in the U.S. would need to meet with a consular officer before leaving the country.
Donnelly, who was nominated by former President Obama and confirmed to her judgeship in 2015, ruled in the Eastern District of New York that “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 Trump’s order.
COMMENTARY: Clearly, the order was meant to address the illegal immigrants and those refugees from Syria, which are flooding across the EU. The issue with visas is the tracking once they are in America and likely represents a greater challenge for the administration and a greater THREAT to our country.
It will be interesting to see how the Trump administration responds.
