Trump hits Iran with new sanctions for missile test; U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump’s travel ban nationwide

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration ordered sanctions against more than two-dozen people and companies from the Persian Gulf to China on Friday in retaliation for Iran’s recent ballistic missile test, increasing pressure on Tehran without directly undercutting a landmark nuclear deal with the country.

Those targeted by the Treasury Department include Iranian, Lebanese, Emirati and Chinese individuals and firms involved in procuring ballistic missile technology for Iran. They are now prohibited from doing any business in the United States or with American citizens. The overall impact is likely to be minimal on Iran’s economy, though some of the people and companies have relationships with Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard military forces.

“The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world community are over,” Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said in a statement.

Although White House spokesman Sean Spicer acknowledged that much of the legwork had occurred under President Barack Obama, he told reporters the Trump administration “acted swiftly and decisively” after Iran’s recent missile test and Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen firing on a Saudi naval vessel.

It is Trump’s first package of penalties against Iran, reflecting his insistence on a tougher stance toward Tehran. Throughout his election campaign, Trump accused the Obama administration of being weak on Iran, and he vowed to crack down if elected.

Iran has acknowledged that it conducted a missile test. But it insists the test didn’t violate the 2015 nuclear accord it reached with the United States and five other world powers, or a subsequent U.N. Security Council resolution extending an eight-year ban on ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” Washington, under Obama and Trump, and its Western allies agree the matter is separate from the nuclear pact but maintain that the missile tests violate the U.N. ban.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Friday vowed counter-sanctions on American companies and firms.

Also on Friday, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked Trump’s ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, siding with two states that urged a nationwide hold on the executive order that has launched legal battles across the country.

U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled that Washington state and Minnesota had standing to challenge Trump’s order, which government lawyers disputed, and said they showed their case was likely to succeed.

It wasn’t immediately unclear what happens next for people who had waited years to receive visas to come to America. The Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t comment, but the State Department had previously ordered visas from the seven countries revoked.

Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, ­Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and ­suspends the U.S. refugee ­program.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the lawsuit two days later.

After the ruling, Ferguson said people from the affected countries can now apply for entry to the U.S.

“The law is a powerful thing — it has the ability to hold everybody accountable to it, and that includes the president of the United States,” Ferguson said.

The White House says it will seek an emergency stay of the order.

Up to 60,000 foreigners from the seven majority-Muslim countries had their visas canceled because of the executive order, the State Department said Friday.

That figure contradicts a statement from a Justice Department lawyer on the same day during a court hearing in Virginia about the ban. The lawyer in that case said about 100,000 visas had been revoked.

The State Department clarified that the higher figure includes diplomatic and other visas that were actually exempted from the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman, Julie Pace, Nasser Karimi, Alicia A. Caldwell and Martha Bellisle contributed to this report.</s>Trump hits Iran with new sanctions for missile test; U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump’s travel ban nationwide

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration ordered sanctions against more than two-dozen people and companies from the Persian Gulf to China on Friday in retaliation for Iran’s recent ballistic missile test, increasing pressure on Tehran without directly undercutting a landmark nuclear deal with the country.

Those targeted by the Treasury Department include Iranian, Lebanese, Emirati and Chinese individuals and firms involved in procuring ballistic missile technology for Iran. They are now prohibited from doing any business in the United States or with American citizens. The overall impact is likely to be minimal on Iran’s economy, though some of the people and companies have relationships with Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard military forces.

“The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world community are over,” Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said in a statement.

Although White House spokesman Sean Spicer acknowledged that much of the legwork had occurred under President Barack Obama, he told reporters the Trump administration “acted swiftly and decisively” after Iran’s recent missile test and Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen firing on a Saudi naval vessel.

It is Trump’s first package of penalties against Iran, reflecting his insistence on a tougher stance toward Tehran. Throughout his election campaign, Trump accused the Obama administration of being weak on Iran, and he vowed to crack down if elected.

Iran has acknowledged that it conducted a missile test. But it insists the test didn’t violate the 2015 nuclear accord it reached with the United States and five other world powers, or a subsequent U.N. Security Council resolution extending an eight-year ban on ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” Washington, under Obama and Trump, and its Western allies agree the matter is separate from the nuclear pact but maintain that the missile tests violate the U.N. ban.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Friday vowed counter-sanctions on American companies and firms.

Also on Friday, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked Trump’s ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, siding with two states that urged a nationwide hold on the executive order that has launched legal battles across the country.

U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled that Washington state and Minnesota had standing to challenge Trump’s order, which government lawyers disputed, and said they showed their case was likely to succeed.

It wasn’t immediately unclear what happens next for people who had waited years to receive visas to come to America. The Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t comment, but the State Department had previously ordered visas from the seven countries revoked.

Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, ­Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and ­suspends the U.S. refugee ­program.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the lawsuit two days later.

After the ruling, Ferguson said people from the affected countries can now apply for entry to the U.S.

“The law is a powerful thing — it has the ability to hold everybody accountable to it, and that includes the president of the United States,” Ferguson said.

The White House says it will seek an emergency stay of the order.

Up to 60,000 foreigners from the seven majority-Muslim countries had their visas canceled because of the executive order, the State Department said Friday.

That figure contradicts a statement from a Justice Department lawyer on the same day during a court hearing in Virginia about the ban. The lawyer in that case said about 100,000 visas had been revoked.

The State Department clarified that the higher figure includes diplomatic and other visas that were actually exempted from the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman, Julie Pace, Nasser Karimi, Alicia A. Caldwell and Martha Bellisle contributed to this report.</s>TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Friday banned U.S. wrestlers from an important international tournament this month in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order forbidding visas for Iranians, the official IRNA news agency reported.

A senior Iranian cleric vowed, meanwhile, that his country would continue its missile program despite threats from the Trump administration that it was preparing to levy new sanctions.

IRNA quoted Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying a special committee reviewed the case of the U.S. team for the freestyle World Cup, and “eventually the visit ... was opposed.” The competition, one of the sport’s most prestigious events, is set for Feb. 16-17 in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah.

The decision marks the first action taken by Iran in response to Trump’s executive order banning visas for seven Muslim countries. Earlier this week, Iran said it would take retaliatory action. Ghasemi said the policy of the new U.S. administration left Iran no other choice but to ban the wrestlers.

USA Wrestling, the sport’s domestic governing body, said in a statement it hasn’t officially been told it won’t be allowed to compete. The group added that if that is the case, USA Wrestling is “extremely disappointed” in what it calls an “unacceptable situation.”

“Wrestling is about competition and goodwill through sport, and is no place for politics,” the federation said.

U.S. wrestler Jordan Burroughs, a four-time world champion, was among those scheduled to compete.

“These decisions, these executive decisions, are always so far beyond your reach,” he told The Associated Press. “Like, you always feel like ‘Well, the presidency or these strict laws or these Muslim bans or whatever you like to call them, they’ll never affect me.’ This is one of the few times where something so personal has occurred. Almost like it (was) handed down from the president to us. It’s a bummer.”

U.S. freestyle wrestlers have competed in Iran since the 1998 Takhti Cup in Tehran, which followed an absence of nearly 20 years. Since then, Americans have attended Iran-hosted wrestling competitions 15 times. The American athletes were warmly welcomed by Iranian spectators and sport centers were packed.

The Iranians have made 16 visits to the U.S. as guests of USA Wrestling since the 1990s. The 2018 freestyle World Cup is in Iowa City, Iowa, and the Iranian team is expected to qualify.

“Though we had hoped for a different outcome from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, we appreciate the complex nature of this decision,” said Nenad Lalovic, president of United World Wrestling, the sport’s international ruling body, said in an email to the AP. “We are currently working to find a solution for the freestyle World Cup as soon as possible.”

Wrestling is extremely popular in Iran and is rooted in an ancient practice of combining the sport with physical education and meditation.

“I love Iran. I love their people, and I don’t get into politics,” said Burroughs, who is coming off a disappointing showing at the recent Rio Olympics. “I wasn’t going to make a political stance. I was going to compete.”

Tehran Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said Iran would continue its missile program despite opposition from the U.S. government. The Trump administration said Thursday it is preparing to levy new sanctions on Iran in the first punitive action since the White House put Iran “on notice” after it test-fired a ballistic missile on Sunday.

“We have missile drills. Our missile drills are a show of our might,” he said. “We are living in a world of wolves. Wolves such as the arrogant government of America. In this world of wolves should we remain unarmed and they do whatever damn things they want? No way! This will never happen!”

Khatami said the new U.S. new administration is reiterating an “old message” that has been aired by previous U.S. administrations regardless of their affiliation with Republican and Democrat parties.

“Your message is aimed at confronting religion and Islam,” he said. “You have been against Islam” since 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday tweeted a message in which he insisted on improving the country’s military program as a means of defense.

“Iran unmoved by threats as we derive security for our people,” he said. “We’ll never initiate war, but we can only rely on our own means of defense.”</s>Trump hits Iran with new sanctions for missile test; U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump’s travel ban nationwide

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration ordered sanctions against more than two-dozen people and companies from the Persian Gulf to China on Friday in retaliation for Iran’s recent ballistic missile test, increasing pressure on Tehran without directly undercutting a landmark nuclear deal with the country.

Those targeted by the Treasury Department include Iranian, Lebanese, Emirati and Chinese individuals and firms involved in procuring ballistic missile technology for Iran. They are now prohibited from doing any business in the United States or with American citizens. The overall impact is likely to be minimal on Iran’s economy, though some of the people and companies have relationships with Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard military forces.

“The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world community are over,” Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said in a statement.

Although White House spokesman Sean Spicer acknowledged that much of the legwork had occurred under President Barack Obama, he told reporters the Trump administration “acted swiftly and decisively” after Iran’s recent missile test and Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen firing on a Saudi naval vessel.

It is Trump’s first package of penalties against Iran, reflecting his insistence on a tougher stance toward Tehran. Throughout his election campaign, Trump accused the Obama administration of being weak on Iran, and he vowed to crack down if elected.

Iran has acknowledged that it conducted a missile test. But it insists the test didn’t violate the 2015 nuclear accord it reached with the United States and five other world powers, or a subsequent U.N. Security Council resolution extending an eight-year ban on ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” Washington, under Obama and Trump, and its Western allies agree the matter is separate from the nuclear pact but maintain that the missile tests violate the U.N. ban.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Friday vowed counter-sanctions on American companies and firms.

Also on Friday, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked Trump’s ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, siding with two states that urged a nationwide hold on the executive order that has launched legal battles across the country.

U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled that Washington state and Minnesota had standing to challenge Trump’s order, which government lawyers disputed, and said they showed their case was likely to succeed.

It wasn’t immediately unclear what happens next for people who had waited years to receive visas to come to America. The Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t comment, but the State Department had previously ordered visas from the seven countries revoked.

Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, ­Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and ­suspends the U.S. refugee ­program.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the lawsuit two days later.

After the ruling, Ferguson said people from the affected countries can now apply for entry to the U.S.

“The law is a powerful thing — it has the ability to hold everybody accountable to it, and that includes the president of the United States,” Ferguson said.

The White House says it will seek an emergency stay of the order.

Up to 60,000 foreigners from the seven majority-Muslim countries had their visas canceled because of the executive order, the State Department said Friday.

That figure contradicts a statement from a Justice Department lawyer on the same day during a court hearing in Virginia about the ban. The lawyer in that case said about 100,000 visas had been revoked.

The State Department clarified that the higher figure includes diplomatic and other visas that were actually exempted from the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman, Julie Pace, Nasser Karimi, Alicia A. Caldwell and Martha Bellisle contributed to this report.</s>(CNN) The US wrestling team looks set to compete at the 2017 Freestyle World Cup after Iran has reversed its decision to deny entry visas, according to state media.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi told the country's state-run IRNA news agency on Sunday that Iran has decided to issue the visas after a US federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's immigration executive order , and because of requests to admit the team made by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) and the Iranian Wrestling Federation on behalf of the US wrestlers.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, also weighed in on the matter on Twitter.

"Following the court ruling suspending #MuslimBan & the requests from Iranian Wrestling Federation & FILA, US Wrestlers' visa will be granted."

Following the court ruling suspending #MuslimBan & the requests from Iranian Wrestling Federation & FILA, US Wrestlers' visa will be granted

He made clear his position on the matter, urging authorities to ensure fans would see, "American and Iranian wrestlers on the same mat again in the very near future."

The international competition

The US Wrestling Team will be aiming for glory later this month.

The two-day event plays host to some of the world's best wrestlers at a tournament which is considered one of the sport's most prestigious annual competitions.

The US wrestling team has been in Iran for tournaments 15 times since the Iranian Revolution, while Iranian wrestlers have made 16 visits to the US since the 1990s.</s>On Friday, Tehran said it would deny visas to US wrestlers heading to the World Cup set to take place on February 16-17 in the Iranian city of Kermanshah, in retaliation for US President Donald Trump's executive order restricting immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

"Following the court ruling suspending #MuslimBan & the requests from the Iranian Wrestling Federation & FILA [currently United World Wrestling], US Wrestlers' visa will be granted," Zarif wrote on his Twitter.

​On Friday night, US District Judge James Robart in Seattle ordered a temporary nationwide halt to the entry ban, which has since been appealed by the US federal government. At the moment, the ban holds and several airlines have announced that they would fly passengers who were barred from entering the United States under the executive order.

Trump's executive order, signed on January 27, also blocked refugees from coming in the United States for 120 days and indefinitely suspended the entry of Syrian refugees.</s>Lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota have told a federal appellate court that restoring President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries would “unleash chaos again.”

The filing with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco came early Monday after the White House said it expected the federal courts to reinstate the ban.

Washington and Minnesota said their underlying lawsuit was strong and a nationwide temporary restraining order was appropriate. If the appellate court reinstated Trump’s ban the states said the “ruling would reinstitute those harms, separating families, stranding our university students and faculty, and barring travel.”

The rapid-fire legal maneuvers by the two states were accompanied by a declaration filed by John Kerry and Madeleine Albright, former secretaries of state, along with former national security officials under President Barack Obama. They said Trump’s ban would disrupt lives and cripple U.S. counterterrorism partnerships around the world without making the nation safer.

“It will aid ISIL’s propaganda effort and serve its recruitment message by feeding into the narrative that the United States is at war with Islam,” according to the six-page declaration filed in court.

“Blanket bans of certain countries or classes of people are beneath the dignity of the nation and Constitution that we each took oaths to protect,” the declaration later added.

The technology industry also argued against the ban, contending it would harm their companies by making it more difficult to recruit employees. Tech giants like Apple and Google, along with Uber, filed their arguments with the court late Sunday.

The next opportunity for Trump’s team to argue in favor of the ban will come in the form of a response to the Washington state and Minnesota filings. The 9th Circuit ordered the Justice Department to file its briefs by 6 p.m. EST Monday. It had already turned down a Justice request to set aside immediately a Seattle judge’s ruling that put a temporary hold on the ban nationwide.

That ruling last Friday prompted an ongoing Twitter rant by Trump, who dismissed U.S. District Court Judge James Robart as a “so-called judge” and his decision “ridiculous.”

The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!

Trump renewed his Twitter attacks against Robart on Sunday. “Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!” He followed with another tweet saying he had instructed the Homeland Security Department to check people coming into the country but that “the courts are making the job very difficult!”

The government had told the appeals court that the president alone has the power to decide who can enter or stay in the United States, an assertion that appeared to invoke the wider battle to come over illegal immigration.

Congress “vests complete discretion” in the president to impose conditions on entry of foreigners to the United States, and that power is “largely immune from judicial control,” according to the court filing.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, predicted the appeals court would not have the last word. “I have no doubt that it will go to the Supreme Court, and probably some judgments will be made whether this president has exceed his authority or not,” she said.

In his ruling, Robart said it was not the court’s job to “create policy or judge the wisdom of any particular policy promoted by the other two branches,” but to make sure that an action taken by the government “comports with our country’s laws.”

The Twitter attacks on Robart — appointed by President George W. Bush — prompted scolding from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats.

“We don’t have so-called judges,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “We don’t have so-called senators. We don’t have so-called presidents. We have people from three different branches of government who take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.”

Trump’s order applied to Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen — Muslim-majority countries that the administration said raise terrorism concerns. The State Department said last week that as many as 60,000 foreigners from those seven countries had had their visas canceled. After Robart’s decision, the department reversed course and said they could travel to the U.S. if they had valid visas.

The department also advised refugee aid agencies that refugees set to travel before Trump signed his order would now be allowed in.

The Homeland Security Department no longer was directing airlines to prevent visa-holders affected by Trump’s order from boarding U.S.-bound planes. The agency said it had “suspended any and all actions” related to putting in place Trump’s order.

Feinstein spoke on Fox and Sasse was interviewed by ABC.

The post 2 States Warn Against Reinstating Travel Ban appeared first on JetMag.com.</s>Trump hits Iran with new sanctions for missile test; U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump’s travel ban nationwide

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration ordered sanctions against more than two-dozen people and companies from the Persian Gulf to China on Friday in retaliation for Iran’s recent ballistic missile test, increasing pressure on Tehran without directly undercutting a landmark nuclear deal with the country.

Those targeted by the Treasury Department include Iranian, Lebanese, Emirati and Chinese individuals and firms involved in procuring ballistic missile technology for Iran. They are now prohibited from doing any business in the United States or with American citizens. The overall impact is likely to be minimal on Iran’s economy, though some of the people and companies have relationships with Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard military forces.

“The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world community are over,” Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said in a statement.

Although White House spokesman Sean Spicer acknowledged that much of the legwork had occurred under President Barack Obama, he told reporters the Trump administration “acted swiftly and decisively” after Iran’s recent missile test and Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen firing on a Saudi naval vessel.

It is Trump’s first package of penalties against Iran, reflecting his insistence on a tougher stance toward Tehran. Throughout his election campaign, Trump accused the Obama administration of being weak on Iran, and he vowed to crack down if elected.

Iran has acknowledged that it conducted a missile test. But it insists the test didn’t violate the 2015 nuclear accord it reached with the United States and five other world powers, or a subsequent U.N. Security Council resolution extending an eight-year ban on ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” Washington, under Obama and Trump, and its Western allies agree the matter is separate from the nuclear pact but maintain that the missile tests violate the U.N. ban.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Friday vowed counter-sanctions on American companies and firms.

Also on Friday, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked Trump’s ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, siding with two states that urged a nationwide hold on the executive order that has launched legal battles across the country.

U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled that Washington state and Minnesota had standing to challenge Trump’s order, which government lawyers disputed, and said they showed their case was likely to succeed.

It wasn’t immediately unclear what happens next for people who had waited years to receive visas to come to America. The Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t comment, but the State Department had previously ordered visas from the seven countries revoked.

Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, ­Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and ­suspends the U.S. refugee ­program.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the lawsuit two days later.

After the ruling, Ferguson said people from the affected countries can now apply for entry to the U.S.

“The law is a powerful thing — it has the ability to hold everybody accountable to it, and that includes the president of the United States,” Ferguson said.

The White House says it will seek an emergency stay of the order.

Up to 60,000 foreigners from the seven majority-Muslim countries had their visas canceled because of the executive order, the State Department said Friday.

That figure contradicts a statement from a Justice Department lawyer on the same day during a court hearing in Virginia about the ban. The lawyer in that case said about 100,000 visas had been revoked.

The State Department clarified that the higher figure includes diplomatic and other visas that were actually exempted from the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman, Julie Pace, Nasser Karimi, Alicia A. Caldwell and Martha Bellisle contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota have told a federal appellate court that restoring President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries would “unleash chaos again.”

The filing with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco came early Monday after the White House said it expected the federal courts to reinstate the ban.

Washington and Minnesota said their underlying lawsuit was strong and a nationwide temporary restraining order was appropriate. If the appellate court reinstated Trump’s ban the states said the “ruling would reinstitute those harms, separating families, stranding our university students and faculty, and barring travel.”

The rapid-fire legal maneuvers by the two states were accompanied by briefs filed by the technology industry arguing that the travel ban would harm their companies by making it more difficult to recruit employees. Tech giants like Apple and Google, along with Uber, filed their arguments with the court late Sunday.

Trump’s executive order was founded on a claim of national security, but lawyers for the two states told the appellate court the administration’s move hurts residents, businesses and universities and is unconstitutional.

The next opportunity for Trump’s team to argue in favor of the ban will come in the form of a response to the Washington state and Minnesota filings. The 9th Circuit ordered the U.S. Justice Department to file its briefs by 6 p.m. EST Monday. It had already turned down a Justice request to set aside immediately a Seattle judge’s ruling that put a temporary hold on the ban nationwide.

In the latest filing, lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota said: “Defendants now ask this Court to unleash chaos again by staying the district court order. The Court should decline.”

That ruling last Friday prompted an ongoing Twitter rant by Trump, who dismissed U.S. District Court Judge James Robart as a “so-called judge” and his decision “ridiculous.”

Trump renewed his Twitter attacks against Robart on Sunday. “Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!” He followed with another tweet saying he had instructed the Homeland Security Department to check people coming into the country but that “the courts are making the job very difficult!”

US suspends enforcement of travel ban, DOJ moves to appeal

Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that “we don’t appoint judges to our district courts to conduct foreign policy or to make decisions about the national security.” Trump himself had offered an optimistic forecast the previous night, telling reporters during a weekend at his private club in Florida: “We’ll win. For the safety of the country, we’ll win.”

The government had told the appeals court that the president alone has the power to decide who can enter or stay in the United States, an assertion that appeared to invoke the wider battle to come over illegal immigration.

Congress “vests complete discretion” in the president to impose conditions on entry of foreigners to the United States, and that power is “largely immune from judicial control,” according to the court filing.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, predicted the appeals court would not have the last word. “I have no doubt that it will go to the Supreme Court, and probably some judgments will be made whether this president has exceed his authority or not,” she said.

In his ruling, Robart said it was not the court’s job to “create policy or judge the wisdom of any particular policy promoted by the other two branches,” but to make sure that an action taken by the government “comports with our country’s laws.”

Whatever the outcome and however the case drags on, a president who was used to getting his way in private business is finding, weeks into his new job that obstacles exist to quickly fulfilling one of his chief campaign pledges.

“The president is not a dictator,” said Feinstein, D-Calif. “He is the chief executive of our country. And there is a tension between the branches of government.”

The Twitter attacks on Robart — appointed by President George W. Bush — prompted scolding from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats.

“We don’t have so-called judges,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “We don’t have so-called senators. We don’t have so-called presidents. We have people from three different branches of government who take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.”

However, Pence defended the president, saying he “can criticize anybody he wants.” The vice president added that he believes the American people “find it very refreshing that they not only understand this president’s mind, but they understand how he feels about things.”

Trump’s order applied to Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen — Muslim-majority countries that the administration said raise terrorism concerns. The order had caused unending confusion for many foreigners trying to reach the United States, prompting protests across the United States and leading to multiple court challenges.

The State Department said last week that as many as 60,000 foreigners from those seven countries had had their visas canceled. After Robart’s decision, the department reversed course and said they could travel to the U.S. if they had a valid visa.

The department also advised refugee aid agencies that refugees set to travel before Trump signed his order would now be allowed in.

The Homeland Security Department no longer was directing airlines to prevent visa-holders affected by Trump’s order from boarding U.S.-bound planes. The agency said it had “suspended any and all actions” related to putting in place Trump’s order.

Pence appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’ “Face the Nation,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Fox News Sunday. McConnell was on CNN, Feinstein spoke on Fox and Sasse was interviewed by ABC.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Several airlines on Saturday gave the green light to passengers wanting to fly to the United States who come from countries hit by President Donald Trump's travel ban after a US court suspended his order.

Seattle US District Judge James Robart on Friday blocked Trump's controversial ban on travelers from seven Muslim countries, prompting a furious president to condemn it as a "ridiculous" move which he would overturn.

Although some airlines said they were waiting to see how the situation develops, carriers including Air France, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa and Swiss Airways said they would carry nationals of the countries concerned if they have a valid visa.

Following the court ruling, US authorities Saturday suspended the travel ban.

"We have reversed the provisional revocation of visas," a State Department spokesman told AFP.

"Those individuals with visas that were not physically cancelled may now travel if the visa is otherwise valid," the official said, while a complaint against Trump's decree by Washington state's attorney general Bob Ferguson is officially reviewed.

Ferguson said Friday the court's suspension of Trump's order meant "the constitution prevailed" as "no one is above the law -- not even the president."

Trump responded angrily, tweeting that "the opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!"

Among airlines confirming the greenlighting of passengers with valid visas, Air France told AFP that "since this morning we are applying with immediate effect the (US) judicial decision taken overnight. All passengers presenting themselves will embark once their papers are in order to travel to the United States."

Several other airlines confirmed on their websites they would carry visa-holding passengers even before news emerged of the State Department statement.

An official at Cairo airport indicated on condition of anonymity that carriers had received notice from JFK airport in New York it was dropping application of Trump's order for US-bound passengers with valid documentation following the court ruling suspending the presidential ban.

Trump last week issued a shock executive order banning for 90 days entry into the US by nationals of seven mainly Muslim countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- and all refugees for 120 days.

Trump's move, which he justifies on security grounds, wrought havoc at airports across America, sparked protests and left countless people hoping to reach the United States in limbo.

"When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot, come in & out, especially for reasons of safety &.security - big trouble!" Trump tweeted less than 12 hours after the court ruling was issued in Seattle.

He added that "certain Middle-Eastern countries agree with the ban. They know if certain people are allowed in it's death & destruction!"

After the US court ruling, Swiss airline told AFP that "at the present time all passengers with valid travel documents can travel on any Swiss flights bound for the United States."

The carrier said it was in touch with US Customs and Border Protection and "we shall respect strictly conditions of entry into US territory."

Germany's Lufthansa stated: "The United States federal court has blocked the travel ban to the USA with immediate effect. Visitors ... holding a valid immigrant or non-immigrant visa for the US are again allowed to travel to the USA".

In Tehran, one travel agent advised Iranians wishing to fly to the USA to "take a place to any city this evening," warning the repeal of the ban may not stand.

Some carriers, including Finnair, were waiting for official confirmation on where they stand, a spokeswoman told AFP.

Low cost carrier Norwegian pointed to "uncertainties about US entry regulations" and advised passengers with questions to contact the US embassy for more information as "we have to follow the rules" on who may enter.

The State Department said Friday up to 60,000 people from the seven targeted countries had their visas cancelled in light of a ban which has caused international outrage.

A Justice Department attorney told a court hearing in Virginia as many as 100,000 visas had been revoked.
Following the court's suspension of the travel ban, Iran allows visas for the United States men's freestyle wrestling team to compete in the 2017 World Cup.