Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Trump Travel Ban Nationwide
By Laura Jarrett
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge temporarily halted President Donald Trump's immigration executive order effective nationwide Friday, a significant setback for the controversial travel ban.
Federal Judge James Robart, who presides in Washington State, orally granted the temporary restraining order. There was no written order immediately available.
Trump's executive order that he signed last week suspended immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, the US refugee program for 120 days and indefinitely halted Syrian refugees from entering the US.
"No one is above the law -- not even the President," Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.
This suit was brought by the states of Washington and Minnesota against the travel ban enacted by Trump's executive order.
A Customs and Border Patrol spokesman told CNN the agency will review the order and comply with all court orders.
There was no immediate response from the Trump administration.
"We only challenged the parts that are actually affecting people immediately, which are the parts about refugees and the parts about targeting these seven countries ... the parts that have getting so much attention and have been causing such immediate harm to people, stranding them oversees and such, are enjoined right away," Washington State Solicitor General Noah Purcell told reporters.
Meanwhile, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, called the restraining order "a tremendous victory for the State of Washington."
Earlier Friday, a federal judge in Boston declined to renew a temporary restraining order affecting Massachusetts that prohibited the detention or removal of foreign travelers legally authorized to come to the US.
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