Trump defends travel ban, tells attorney general ‘you’re fired’
The President fired his chief lawyer for opposing his immigration laws, on another dramatic day in Washington.
- Trump fires Attorney General
- ‘Get with the program or go’
- Dual-national Australians exempt
- Obama’s dig at Trump
- Trump defends travel ban
- This isn’t a Muslim ban
Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries entering the US is a major talking point, with President Trump defending the executive order he signed this weekend and firing the Acting Attorney General who disagreed with him. That’s where we’ll leave our coverage for the day.
• President Trump accused his acting AG Sally Yates of betrayal: Read here
• Less than an hour later he axed another Barack Obama holdover: Read here
11.22pm: EU chief casts doubt on relations with US
European Union chief Donald Tusk said recent statements by Mr Trump’s administration were “worrying” and cast doubt on the future of transatlantic relations.
“Worrying declarations by the new American administration... make our future highly unpredictable,” Tusk said in letter to EU leaders ahead of a summit in Malta.
9.50pm: Tech companies act against order
Amazon and Microsoft Corp have confirmed they are cooperating with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, which is suing in federal court to stop Donald Trump’s immigration order.
Microsoft said it was providing information about the order’s impact “in order to be supportive. And we’d be happy to testify further if needed,” spokesman Pete Wootton said in a statement.
Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos told staff the company had prepared a declaratin of support for the suit and “we are working on other legal options.”
“To our employees in the U.S. and around the world who may be directly affected by this order, I want you to know that the full extent of Amazon’s resources are behind you,” Mr. Bezos said.
4.30pm: New acting AG rescinds order
Dana Boente has wasted little time in overturning the directive that cost Sally Yates her job.
Federal prosecutor Boente was named to the position after Trump sacked Yates, a Barack Obama appointee held over pending confirmation of Trump’s nominee Jeff Sessions.
Yates had instructed Department of Justice lawyers not to defend the ban on immigration from seven Muslim nations.
“Based upon the Office of Legal Counsel’s analysis, which found the Executive Order both lawful on its face and properly drafted, I hereby rescind former Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates January 30, 2017, guidance and direct the men and women of the Department of Justice to do our sworn duty and to defend the lawful orders of our President,” Boente said in a statement.
4pm: New beat for former NY cop
Thomas Homan, Daniel Ragsdale’s successor as acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been ICE’s executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations since 2013.
“I am confident that he will continue to serve as a strong, effective leader for the men and women of ICE,” John Kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security, said in a brief statement.
Homan, a former New York police officer, is a 30-year veteran of immigration enforcement, having served as a US Border Patrol agent and deputy assistant director of ICE for investigations before becoming deputy director, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
3.15pm: New acting Attorney General sworn in
Dana Boente has been sworn in as acting Attorney General in a hastily arranged ceremony after Trump dismissed his predecessor for instructing Justice Department lawyers to stop defending Trump’s travel and refugee ban.
Reporters and news photographers were not invited to witness the ceremony. Boente has been serving as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He’s expected to serve until Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for the position, is confirmed by the Senate.
There have been only a handful of instances in US history of top Justice Department officials publicly breaking with the White House. The most famous example was in 1973, when then-Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned rather than obey President Richard Nixon’s order to fire a special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.
2.50pm: Trump wields the axe again
President Trump has replaced the acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a holdover from Barack Obama’s administration, as he battled mounting fallout over his controversial immigration orders.
No reason was given for the decision to replace Daniel Ragsdale, announced barely an hour after Trump fired another Obama appointee, acting attorney general Sally Yates, for breaking ranks over the ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Ragsdale’s replacement, Thomas Homan, will help “ensure that we enforce our immigration laws in the interior of the United States consistent with the national interest,” Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in a statement.
1.20pm: You’re fired: Trump tells AG
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who as we reported earlier directed Justice Department lawyers not to defend President Trump’s travel ban, has been given the boot.
Ms Yates, who was appointed by Barack Obama, said earlier today that she was not convinced that the order was lawful.
In a statement, the White House said Ms Yates “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.’’
“Ms Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration. It is time to get serious about protecting our country.”
Yates had said she did not believe defending the immigration order would be “consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.” She was days away from being replaced by Trump’s pick for the top spot at the Justice Department, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, who is awaiting Senate confirmation.
.@POTUS has named Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of VA as Acting Attorney General. Sally Yates has been relieved.
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 31, 2017
President Trump has named Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to replace Yates as the federal government’s top lawyer, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a tweet.
There have been only a handful of instances in US history of top Justice Department officials publicly breaking with the White House. The most famous example was in 1973, when then-Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned rather than obey President Richard Nixon’s order to fire a special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.
Sally Yates just entered the first paragraph of the history books on the Trump administration.
— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) January 31, 2017
12.39pm: Jobless immigrants could be deported
There are reports President Trump is considering an executive order that would target some immigrants for deportation if they become dependent on government assistance. The Associated Press has obtained a copy of the draft order that calls for the identification and removal “as expeditiously as possible” of any legal immigrant who relies on certain kinds of public welfare benefits.
The order, if signed, would also focus the government’s efforts on blocking immigrants who are likely to become reliant on government benefits. The White House did not immediately comment.
Immigrants already must prove financial independence before they are allowed into the United States. The draft order signals the administration is considering not only cracking down on immigrants who are in the US illegally, but also some living there legally.
12.00pm: What do Americans think?
The Wall Street Journal has taken to the streets in New York to ask local people what they think of President Trump’s immigration order. Watch the video below.
11.35am: Ban ‘reinforces suspicions of Muslims’
A special exemption allowing Australian dual nationals to circumvent President Trump’s travel ban has received a cautious welcome from a migrant lobby group.
Welcome To Australia chief executive Mohammad Al-Khafaji said while the exemption was a good outcome, Mr Turnbull should have publicly criticised Mr Trump’s controversial policy.
“The disappointing thing here is that our government is supporting the policy in the first place and not condemning it like other political leaders in Britain and Canada who also were given political exemptions,” he told AAP. “It reinforces suspicions of Muslim people and people of different cultures in Australia and it gives the green light to question people in Australia.”
Mr Al-Khafajim is waiting to find out if his US visa application for a work trip in May is approved. He was born and raised in Iraq before his family fled to Syria as refugees and applied to come to Australia, where they have lived since 2003. Mr Al-Khafaji was invited by the US State Department to attend a three-week leadership program in Washington DC but says even if his visa is granted there’s an “extra level of worry” involved now in travelling to the US.
11.06am: Attorney General: don’t defend ban
US Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, a Democratic Obama appointee, has directed Justice Department attorneys not to defend President Trump’s travel ban, declaring today that she was not convinced that the order was lawful.
Incredible scene here at the Supreme Court. This is what America is about- standing together for all faiths, families, and backgrounds. pic.twitter.com/vCUV13hNiB
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) January 31, 2017
Her directive was likely to be temporary, given that Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, will likely move to uphold the president’s policy. Sessions is awaiting Senate confirmation.
Still, Yates’ abrupt decision deepened the chaos surrounding Trump’s order with at least three top national security officials saying they were not aware of the details of the ban until Trump signed it (see previous post).
Mr Trump later responded to the move by Yates on Twitter.
The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2017
10.40am: ‘Get with the program or go’
In a remarkable sign of early discord, President Trump’s key Cabinet advisers - as well as Republican congressional leaders - have distanced themselves Monday from the immigration ban and declared they were not consulted during its writing and were blindsided by the timing.
At least three top national security officials - Defence Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, who is awaiting confirmation to lead the State Department - have told associates they were not aware of details of directive until around the time Trump signed it. Top intelligence officials were also left largely in the dark, according to US officials.
A large group of American diplomats circulated a memo voicing their opposition to the order, which temporarily halted the entire US refugee program and banned all entries from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days. In a startling combative response, White House spokesman Sean Spicer challenged those opposed to the measure to resign. “They should either get with the program or they can go,” Spicer said.
WH @PressSec Sean Spicer says career diplomats with criticism about travel ban "should either get with the program or they can go." pic.twitter.com/6krLj43vkR
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 30, 2017
Mattis, who stood next to Trump during Saturday’s signing ceremony, is said to be particularly incensed. A senior US official said he was aware of the general concept of Trump’s order but not the details. Tillerson has told the president’s political advisers that he was baffled over not being consulted on the substance of the order.
10.20am: Women’s March organiser sues Trump
The Council on American–Islamic Relations has launched legal action against Donald Trump over the travel ban. The group of Muslim activists say the executive order violates the first amendment of the constitution as it “imposes upon Islam the stigma of government disfavour”.
The lead plaintiff of the case is Linda Sarsour, the executive director of Arab American Association of New York and an organiser of this month’s Women’s March on Washington.
No accident that @lsarsour is lead plaintiff in lawsuit against Trump #MuslimBan. Will go down in history as SARSOUR v. TRUMP. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/wRUV3M96fI
— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) January 30, 2017
10.15am: Ban tests Middle East relations
King Abdullah II of Jordan’s visit to Washington this week is testing President Trump’s ability to maintain key Arab alliances while cracking down on immigration. The next few days could provide an indication if Trump is willing to compromise.
Abdullah, a close US ally, held meetings yesterday with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Vice President Mike Pence. Trump and the king will come face-to-face on Thursday.
Although Jordan isn’t among the seven countries listed in the travel ban, there are fears Mr Trump’s travel ban could embolden Middle East extremists and contribute to a perception that Washington is at war with Islam - which Trump’s administration insists is not the case.
Trump’s embassy decision looms even larger for Jordan. The kingdom, fighting as part of US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, is closely watching to see if Trump fulfils a campaign pledge to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Doing so could trigger widespread protests among Jordan’s massive Palestinian population, potentially even jeopardising Abdullah’s hold on power.
10.10am: UK stands firm on Trump invite
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has urged people to stop treating Donald Trump like Hitler as thousands protested over the decision to honour him with a state visit to the UK.
Mr Johnson hit out at those ‘demonising’ the US president as the opposition branded PM Theresa May an ‘appeaser’ for granting him a full state visit just hours before he introduced the controversial travel ban.
Mrs May was defiant over the issue, saying it was right to recognise a ‘close ally’ by granting the visit. But thousands of demonstrators gathered across UK cities overnight to voice their opposition to Mr Trump’s abruptly imposed ban.
A petition calling for the visit to be scrapped topped 1.5 million signatures just 48 hours after it was launched, making it the fastest growing in British history, and thousands of people chanted ‘shame on May’ in a protest outside Downing Street.
9.55am: Apple, Ford, Google condemn ban
CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies are fighting back against President Trump’s immigration ban, calling it un-American and bad for business.
The heads of Apple, Ford and Goldman Sachs said that they don’t support the executive order. Google said it is donating cash to organisations that support immigrants. Other companies said they will help employees affected by the ban or, in the case of Starbucks, hire refugees. US businesses already have a complicated relationship with Trump, who has been openly critical of companies planning to build plants in Mexico or charge what he sees as too much for fighter jets. Some have announced hiring plans and investments in the US, saying they like Trump’s plans to reduce regulation and lower corporate taxes. But the corporate reaction to the executive order was strong, quick and harsh. “This is unprecedented,” said Bill Klepper, an adjunct management professor at Columbia Business School in New York.
9.25am: Shorten, PM clash over ban
Opposition leader Bill Shorten used Facebook to take a swipe at Mr Turnbull, calling President Trump’s travel ban “appalling”.
“While the US should be able to go about its business without interference from Australia, there were some issues where silence would be interpreted as agreement”, he wrote.
In response, Turnbull reminded the Labor leader he was not prime minister. “He will go out on anything that he thinks gives him a political advantage,” he told Sky News.
“He has no concern about our national interest and our national interest is best protected by me giving private counsel to the United States, our most important ally, (and) publicly refraining from commenting on their domestic policy.”
Sarah Martin 9.00am: Dual-national Australians exempt
Australia has been given assurances its dual nationals will be exempt from a US immigration ban.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed the development following a call from Australia’s ambassador to the US in Washington Joe Hockey.
“Our ambassador has just called me to say that he has assurances, confirmation, from the White House that Australian passport holders, regardless of their place of birth ... will remain welcome to come and go to the United States in the usual way,” Mr Turnbull told Sky News.
“[They] will be able to travel to the United States in the same way they were able to prior to the executive order”. Read the full story.
The assurance matches those the US gave to the United Kingdom and Canada and means Melbourne schoolboy Pouya Ghadirian - a dual Australian- Iranian citizen who we featured earlier - should be able to attend a space camp in the US.
SAM BUCKINGHAM-JONES 8.45am: Labor forced to defend own ban
While demanding Malcolm Turnbull protest President Trump’s entry ban, Labor has been forced to defend its own record on visa bans.
The Rudd government in 2010 suspended without notice the processing of all new refugee claims by Sri Lankans and Afghans for up to six months.
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek told ABC radio this morning such a measure was appropriate where there were temporary circumstances such as an escalation of conflict or even a decline.
“If there are temporary reasons such as an escalation of conflict in a country or a decline in conflict in a country that might affect whether people are likely to be accepted as refugees or not, that’s one issue,” she said.
“Here you have a situation in the United States where a number of countries selected, there’s no clear reason that these countries and not some other countries have been selected. And there’s a lot of confusion around people who are dual citizens of countries (and) permanent residents of the US who have been temporarily overseas.”
Those affected by the Rudd government’s temporary ban, which was aimed at curbing an increase in asylum seekers arriving by boat, were held in indefinite detention until the suspensions were lifted – in July 2010 for Sri Lankans and September 2010 for Afghans.
SAM BUCKINGHAM-JONES 8.30am: ‘Why can’t Australia oppose ban?’
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek this morning says the Australian government should voice its opposition to President Trump’s immigration ban, joining countries including Germany, France, Canada and the United Kingdom.
“It is important for strong allies to express their concerns against a very heavy handed and slightly clumsy approach to what Donald Trump says he wants to do, which is protect citizens,” she told the ABC’s Radio National this morning.
“I think it’s been quite a chaotic way to do what every national leader wants to do, which is protect their own citizens.”
“I think it’s very import to say we don’t support a ban that is based on ethnicity or religion. When countries want to protect their citizens, they have the right to conduct stringent background checks ... France, Germany, the UK, and Canada are all close friends of the US, and if they can make statements I don’t see why Australia can’t.”
Ms Plibersek said an impending deal to resettle those on Manus Island and Nauru should not stop the government from expressing an opinion.
“I think it’s absolutely critical we get people off Manus Island and Nauru as soon as possible. There is no question that I am absolutely committed to ensuring this deal goes ahead, but that shouldn’t mean we can’t express a principled position on these other issue,” she said.
“The US is a strong ally of Australia, we need to have a constructive relationship, and sometimes that means saying were not sure that’s a good way of doing things.”
8.20am: Ban counter-productive to anti-terror
More than 100 State Department officials have signed a draft formal protest of President Trump’s immigration and refugee order that calls his policy counter-productive to US anti-terrorism efforts and potentially harmful to US interests, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The dissent marks an early challenge to one of Mr. Trump’s signature policies and represents a message of caution from one of the key parts of the federal bureaucracy that will be tasked with carrying out the new president’s vision.
The State Department officials are expected to submit a final version of the cable, which is a formal, confidential form of diplomatic communication. The cable is part of a “dissent channel” the department maintains that constitutes an official vehicle for diplomats and officials to voice alternative views.
8.15am: What about the refugees?
Just to note, President Trump’s ban also prohibits entry to all refugees, regardless of nationality, for 120 days.
Yesterday, Malala Yousafzai, the co-winner of the 2014 Nobel peace prize who was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 to stop her campaigning for girls’ education said she was heartbroken by the ban.
The order suspends a program that saw around 85,000 people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice resettled in the US last year. Trump also indefinitely blocked people fleeing Syria’s civil war. In a statement, Yousafzai implored Mr Trump “not to turn his back on the world’s most defenceless children and families.” Refugees and immigrants, she said, have “helped build your country.” Trump’s mother was born in Scotland.
SAM BUCKINGHAM-JONES 8.00am: Melbourne schoolboy banned
A Melbourne schoolboy who claims to be the first Australian to be denied a US visa following President Trump’s new entry bans says it’s “unfair” and “absurd” someone like him, who wanted to travel to visit Orlando, Washington, and the US Space & Rocket Centre in Alabama, has been affected.
Pouya Ghadirian, 15, was born in Australia and has lived his entire life in Melbourne, but holds dual Australian-Iranian citizenship by descent. Read the full story.
SAM BUCKINGHAM-JONES 7.48am: University concern over travel ban
Australian universities are concerned about the impact of President Trump’s travel ban on student, academic and researcher travel between Australia and the United States.
Universities Australia Chief Executive Belinda Robinson said Australia and the US had longstanding ties between university sectors and she was concerned about the impact the ban may have on those who are dual nationals of the seven Muslim-majority countries.
“If brilliant scholars from the seven countries named in the executive order are based in the US and visit Australia to collaborate on research, they would not be able to return to the US,” she said.
“The ban has the potential to adversely affect research collaboration, academic conference participation, student exchange programs and postdoctoral work.” Read the full story and see DFAT’s advice for Australian travellers.
7.20am: Where does Australia stand?
Malcolm Turnbull is under fire for refusing to take a position on President Trump’s immigration ban amid a dispute over Muslim migrants that is pitting government backbenchers against each other.
Yesterday the Prime Minister declared it was “not my job” to cast a verdict on Mr Trump’s ban as he sought to cement a crucial refugee deal for those held on Manus and Nauru with the new President. Read the full story.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said the ban raised the question of whether Australia’s alliance with the US was in the national interest while One Nation’s Pauline Hanson backed Mr Trump’s policy and said the public reaction in Australia showed Mr Turnbull was wrong to say it was “not my job” to comment.
6.52am: Obama rejects discrimination
Former US president Barack Obama has expressed his objections to any faith-based discrimination, in an apparent dig at his successor’s controversial travel ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries.
“With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion,” his spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement - Obama’s first since leaving office.
The former president is “heartened” by protests that have taken place across the country, Lewis said.
“Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organise and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake,” the statement added.
Obama had signalled at his final press conference that he would not remain silent about speaking out on a number of issues.
6.30am: Trump defends travel ban
President Trump has blamed protesters, Delta Air Lines and New York Senator Charles Schumer for delays and confusion at airports this weekend, saying the executive order he signed restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries had led to minimal disruption.
This contrasts sharply with accounts from lawyers, travellers, politicians from both parties and government officials who said the executive order wasn’t fully vetted or explained. Read the full story.
- With AP, AAP, AFP
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