A U.S. federal judge in Seattle ordered a halt to President Trump's controversial travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries Friday.
Judge James Robart placed the nation-wide temporary restraining order on the executive order, effective immediately.
BREAKING: Washington State judge halts travel ban nationwide https://t.co/w2B8qh9f3I https://t.co/wMAEMC1fku
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 4, 2017
Trump's executive order banned travel temporarily from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days, including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and imposed a moratorium on the refugee resettlement program for 120 days. The administration later included an exception for Iraqi translators who worked with the U.S. government.
The ban, wording which the administration now objects to, caused a lot of confusion at airports when first implemented as people were detained and some were sent back to their countries of origin. This precipitated massive protests and boycotts, with many calling the command bigoted and racist, while the administration fended off the accusations by pointing out the countries targeted were designated under former President Obama.
Even after all the public uproar, more Americans support the travel ban than oppose it by a margin of 8 percentage points among adults. Meanwhile, the White House tried also to distance itself from inflammatory comments about Islam from Trump's top aide, Steve Bannon.
