Detroit federal judge issues halt on Trump's travel ban
DEARBORN, Mich. (WJBK) - A federal judge in Detroit says U.S. green-card holders shouldn't be affected by President Donald Trump's order temporarily banning refugees and immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries.
The Arab-American Civil Rights League argued in the suit filed this week in Detroit's U.S. District Court that the executive action is unconstitutional and targets immigrant communities. It represents about a half-dozen legal, permanent residents, some of whom have been turned away from U.S.-bound planes.
The restraining order released Friday from U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts covers legal permanent residents, not some others that also are part of the lawsuit. She says lawyers for the government clarified to her that the ban doesn't apply to "lawful" permanent residents.
You can view a copy of the judge's order here
Trump says the ban is about safety, not religion. It faces numerous legal challenges.
President Trump's executive order, which was signed on Friday, January 27, pauses America's entire refugee program for four months, indefinitely bans all those from war-ravaged Syria and temporarily freezes immigration from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen in, what the president says is, an effort to stop terrorist attacks on the U.S.
The U.S. has taken in nearly 270,000 immigrants and refugees from the affected countries since 2007, according to an AP analysis of U.S. State Department data. Many of the most populous states have taken in the largest share. California has accepted the most followed by Michigan, Texas, Arizona, New York and Illinois. SENT
The Associated Press contributed to this report