Despite Court Rulings, Trump Administration Doubles Down On Immigration Ban

“President Trump’s Executive Orders Remain In Place,” Homeland Security Department Says In Statement

Despite rulings from four different federal judges halting portions of his anti-Muslim executive order on immigration, President Donald Trump’s administration says it will continue to enforce the ban. 

“The Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce all of President Trump’s Executive Orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people,” the department said in a statement posted on its website Sunday. “President Trump’s Executive Orders remain in place — prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety.” 

Late Saturday, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly of New York granted a temporary injunction barring the deportation of people who have valid U.S. visas, and who were either in transit when the order was signed or already detained in the nation’s airports.

Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the White House, later told the Associated Press: “Nothing in the Brooklyn judge’s order in anyway impedes or prevents the implementation of the president’s executive order which remains in full, complete and total effect.”

Trump also took to Twitter on Sunday morning to defend the ban:  

In addition to Donnelly, three other federal judges — in Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington state — have issued rulings halting portions of the ban.  

But while some news outlets ran headlines suggesting that Donnelly struck down the ban in its entirety, that is not the case. The majority of Trump’s executive order remains in place, at least until additional lawsuits can be filed challenging it.

The order blocks people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country for 90 days, halts the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, and indefinitely suspends the intake of refugees from Syria.