WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 30, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — President Donald Trump fired and replaced acting Attorney General Sally Yates on Monday after she announced the U.S. Department of Justice would not immediately try to defend against legal challenges to his controversial travel ban.
Trump’s pick for Acting Attorney General — Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — was sworn in hours after the Yates decision was announced.
Yates, an appointee of former Pres. Barack Obama, was informed of her firing by a hand-delivered letter after announcing she could not enforce a law she was not sure was legal.
“I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” Yates wrote in a memo to Justice Department lawyers.
“I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful.”
The White House press office said in a statement that Yates “has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.”
It also insulted Yates’ expertise by saying she “… is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”
Boente told The Washington Post that he will enforce the immigration order, announced by Trump late Friday afternoon.
The temporary prohibition bars citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Thousands of people protested Saturday at major airports nationwide after arriving passengers who had legal visas, and who were in transit when Trump’s ban was announced, were detained upon landing at destination airports.
On Saturday evening, a federal judge in Brooklyn ordered a temporary injunction against Trump’s executive order. Sending travelers home could cause them “irreparable harm,” said Judge Ann Donnelly, in making her ruling.
Among those who vocally opposed Trump’s executive order were an estimated 200 people who turned up at the Salt Lake International Airport to protest Trump’s decision.
“I came with my dad, my mom, my sister, my two brothers. But one sister is still over there,” protester Mohammed Abd told Gephardt Daily. “I tried to apply for her visa, and two days ago Catholic Community Services said they don’t think she can come over. It’s heartbreaking.”
Abd, born in Iraq, is now an American citizen.
“This is a land built by immigrants,” he said. “Everybody has the right to come over to this land to live better lives, to have freedom, to dream.”
