Homeland Security: Trump orders on ‘extreme vetting’ still in effect

The Trump administration said Sunday it will continue to enforce the president’s new “extreme vetting” executive order, showing a defiant stance in the face of a federal judge’s order forbidding the government from kicking out anyone who manages to reach U.S. soil.

“It is the right and duty of the president to do everything in his legal and constitutional power to protect the American people,” the White House said in a statement. “Saturday’s ruling does not undercut the president’s executive order. All stopped visas will remain stopped. All halted admissions will remain halted. All restricted travel will remain prohibited.”

Homeland Security issued its own statement early Sunday saying it’s following through on the executive order, which President Trump signed Friday afternoon, and which halts admissions from seven countries with a history of terrorism and pauses refugee admissions.

U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly in New York, in an emergency ruling late Saturday, issued a stay of removal, ruling that nobody who got to the U.S. with a valid visa issued by the government could be denied admission based on Mr. Trump’s order. She said the Trump policy likely violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Constitution.

Lawyers flocked to airports to defend those arriving on flights, using signs in English and Arabic to try to alert families in the waiting area to complain if their relatives didn’t get through the customs and passport screening.

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