WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on U. S. President Donald Trump and his ban on refugees from Muslim-majority countries (all times local):
5:55 a.m.
The Iraqi government says it understands the security motives behind President Donald Trump’s decision to ban seven predominantly Muslim nations, including Iraq, from entering the United States, but underlined that their “special relationship” should be taken into consideration.
Government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi says Iraqis are hoping that the new orders “will not affect the efforts of strengthening and developing the bilateral relations between Iraq and the United States.”
Al-Hadithi told The Associated Press on Sunday the government hopes the “measures will be temporary and for regulatory reasons and not permanent at least for Iraq.”
The order, signed Friday, included a 90-day ban on travel to the U. S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen. It also suspended the U. S. refugee program for four months.
___
5:45 a.m.
The impact of U. S. President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and citizens of seven mostly-Muslim countries from entering the United States was felt immediately in Britain.
A British lawmaker who was born in the Iraqi capital Baghdad said on Sunday he feels discriminated against “for the first time in my life.”
Nadhim Zahawi, a member of parliament since 2010, says lawyers advised him he will not be able to enter the U. S. under the ban introduced on Friday.
Zahawi describes the impact on him and his family as “demeaning.” He told local television his sons studying in the U. S. would not be able to visit Britain without facing a 90-day delay in returning to their studies.
An Iranian woman living in Scotland, Hamaseh Tayari, was stranded in Costa Rica in the wake of the ban, unable to board her scheduled flight home because it stopped in New York. She was seeking an alternative route with help from funds raised by a crowdfunding campaign.
___
5:10 a.m.
A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel says the German leader believes the Trump administration’s travel ban on people from some Muslim-majority countries is wrong.
Germany’s dpa news agency quoted Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert saying Sunday that “she is convinced that even the necessary, resolute fight against terrorism doesn’t justify putting people of a particular origin or particular faith under general suspicion.”
Merkel and U. S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone Saturday for the first time since his inauguration. A joint U. S.-German statement following the call made no mention of the topic of refugees or travel bans.
___
4 a.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has criticized President Donald Trump’s order temporarily banning refugees from entering the United States.
Her official spokesman said Sunday that May does “not agree” with Trump’s order and will challenge the US government if it has an adverse effect on British nationals.
The official comment came after May refused to condemn the ban during a visit to Turkey to meet with Turkish leaders. She said in Turkey the decision was a matter solely for the United States.
After she returned to Britain from a whirlwind visit to Washington, where she met Trump at the White House, and Turkey, her spokesman said Britain did not approve of Trump’s policy.
The British government is studying the order to gauge its impact on British nationals.
___
3 a.m.
The Homeland Security Department says a New York court order temporarily barring the U. S. from deporting people from nations subject to President Donald Trump’s travel ban will not affect the overall implementation of the White House executive action.
The agency said the court order affected a relatively small number of travelers who were inconvenienced by security procedures upon their return.
The department’s statement said: “President Trump’s Executive Orders remain in place- prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U. S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety,” according to the DHS statement.
Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the White House, said that nothing in the judge’s order “in anyway impedes or prevents the implementation of the president’s executive order which remains in full, complete and total effect.”
Copyright © 2017 The Washington Times, LLC.
Click to Read More
Click to Hide
