US revokes visa ban after court rules against Donald Trump's order

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has been forced to back down from the presidential order selectively restricting entry into United States, setting up a potential confrontation between the executive and the judiciary, and pitting liberal, immigrant-welcoming states against a federal government accused of shutting doors.

A Federal District Judge in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest on Friday echoed similar rulings in New York, California, and Massachusetts (all liberal, Democrat-leaning states) while temporarily blocking President Trump's executive order from being enforced nationwide.

The ruling immediately re-opened US doors to travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries who were barred by the Trump executive order.

The government



complied with the court ruling for now, communicating to airlines that they could board passengers with valid travel documents, even as the President himself railed against it.

The State Department too announced it was reversing the cancellations of visas for nearly 60,000 travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries who had their visas "provisionally revoked" to comply with Trump's order blocking them from traveling to the United States.

An earlier White House statement said the Justice Department would file for an emergency stay of the "outrageous" ruling from the judge at the earliest possible time. "The president's order is intended to protect the homeland and he has the constitutional authority and responsibility to protect the American people," the statement said.