News Local/State

Federal Judge Stays Deportations, Blocking Part Of Trump’s Immigration Order

by Maquita Peters
 
People opposed to President Donald Trump's executive order barring entry to the U.S. by Muslims from certain countries demonstrate at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017

People opposed to President Donald Trump's executive order barring entry to the U.S. by Muslims from certain countries demonstrate at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017 Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Federal Judge Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn, N.Y. granted a request by the American Civil Liberties Union and issued a stay late Saturday on the deportations of refugees and valid visa holders after they have landed at a U.S. airport. The ruling by Donnelly temporarily blocks President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration signed Friday.

"In her order, Judge Ann Donnelly cited "substantial and irreparable injury to refugees, visa-holders, and other individuals" from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, as well as a strong likelihood that deporting these individuals would violate "their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution."

The stay will last until a court hearing is held on the merits of this case brought by the ACLU and other legal organizations.

It applies to "all people stranded in U.S. airports," according to a statement by the ACLU.

They say the stay will affect 100 to 200 people detained at U.S. airports or in transit. Government lawyers, however, could not confirm that number.