Trump fires acting attorney general opposed to travel ban

Washington - US President Donald Trump wasted little time

Monday in removing the acting attorney general from office after she

said she would not defend his executive order on immigration in

court.

Trump fired Sally Yates, a Obama administration holdover, just hours

after she issued a statement saying the Justice Department would not

defend the controversial executive order "for as long as I am acting

director."

A White House statement said Yates "betrayed" the Department of

Justice "by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the

citizens of the United States."

The statement said Trump "relieved" Yates of her duties and named

Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to

serve as acting attorney general until Senator Jeff Sessions is

confirmed by the Senate.

Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. File photo: Reuters

Yates was appointed by US president Barack Obama who had agreed to

serve Trump until Sessions was confirmed.

Yates issued her statement as angry reaction to Trump's executive

order issuing the travel ban, which affects the citizens of seven

majority-Muslim countries and refugees from countries in conflict,

mounted and protests across the United States raged.

The White House was adamant in its defence of the immigration order

despite all the controversy it has stirred. Spokesman Sean Spicer

held firm to the position that the temporary ban has been good for

the security of the country.

"The president's gonna be very proactive with protecting this

country," Spicer said. "We're not gonna wait until we get attacked

and figure out how we can make sure it doesn't happen again."

He repeated the administration's argument that only 109 people out of

approximately 325,000 passengers who arrived in the US on Sunday were

detained for questioning. 

They were all cleared to enter, he said, adding they had been

temporarily detained "to make sure that the safety of the other 324

million Americans was put first.

He said the 109 people were in transit when the executive order was

issued as part of Trump's "extreme vetting" approach to preventing

terrorists entering the country.

But controversy and uncertainty spread around the world because an

unspecified number of others were stopped before beginning their

journeys. Spicer said they would now be put through additional

vetting at consulates in their home countries.

Trump's order banned citizens from Syria, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Somalia,

Libya and Sudan for 90 days, temporarily suspended refugee admissions

for 120 days and banned refugee admissions from Syria indefinitely.

Trump also faced pressure from several US companies that voiced

concern about the effects the order would have on their workforces.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson also announced plans

to file a lawsuit that would seek to have key provisions of the order

declared unconstitutional.

In addition Trump's order also faced criticism from fellow

Republicans in Congress, including Lindsey Graham, a senator from

South Carolina, who said the order was too broad and incompetently

implemented.

Protests that continued Monday across the country prompted Obama to

weigh in on a policy for the first time since leaving office on

January 20. Obama said through his spokesman Kevin Lewis that he

supported the protests taking place across the country and was

"heartened by the level of engagement."

Lewis said Obama "fundamentally disagrees with the notion of

discriminating against individuals because of their faith or

religion."

dpa