Travel ban: Trump hits out at federal judge, says opinion of this so-called judge will be overturned

U.S. President Donald Trump pauses as he talks to journalists who are members of the White house travel pool on board Air Force One during his flight to Palm Beach, Florida while over South Carolina, U.S., February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

US President Donald Trump on Saturday hit out at US federal judge James Robart’s order blocking the president’s call to ban on admitting travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries into the country. Trump took to Twitter to express his angst against the order. “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!”

Meanwhile, the court’s ruling has given some hope to Middle East travellers but left them in uncertainty as to how long the new travel window might last. Earlier in the day an internal email was circulated among Homeland Security officials that told employees to comply with the judge’s ruling. In the meantime, the White House said it would try to get a court to reinstate the ban that prompted the State Department to cancel visas for 60,000 or more people from the affected countries, causing widespread confusion at airports when some travelers were detained and others sent back.

The US embassy in Baghdad said they’re awaiting orders on the next course of action as Iraqis were eager to know if their visa restrictions had changed. In a statement to news agency AP, the embassy said: “We don’t know what the effect will be, but we’re working to get more information.”

In the wake of the court’s ruling, Qatar Airways was the first airline to announce it would allow passengers from Libya, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen to resume flying to US cities only if they had valid documents. Emirates airline too followed suit when they said previously barred passengers with valid travel documents are now allowed on US flights after the ban was blocked.