President Donald Trump, whose National Security Advisor for the Western Hemisphere was escorted out of the White House for criticizing him, has been ordered by a federal judge in New York City to turn over the names of all travelers who were detained from entering the United States under his travel ban. Under the ban, which was put into effect on January 28, 2017, refugees from seven countries with large Muslim populations, including Syria and Libya, were prohibited from entering the United States.
Terms of the order
Under the terms of the order, the Trump Administration is to provide to the court the names of all persons who were detained under Trump's executive order between January 28, 2017, at 9:37 p.m.
and January 29, 2017 at 11:59 p.m.. It was at precisely 9:37 p.m. on Jan. 28, that a federal judge put a halt to the portion of Trump's executive order that called for deportations of immigrants who fit certain parameters as prescribed by the Administration. The order did not include immigrants with green cards; however, it did include travelers who arrived in the United States with refugee applications, as well as immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, even if they had legitimate visas. Among the countries from which immigrants were not allowed are: Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iraq and Iran. A federal judge in Washington State put a restraining order on the ban, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the restraining order.
In a tweet, President Trump complained that his administration only was able to detain 109 people out of 325,000 immigrants. Trump also cited computer problems with Delta Airlines as a factor in his administration's inability to detain more than 109 people. It is the names of those 109 people that the federal judge has ordered the Trump Administration to reveal to the court.
Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage,.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
McCain criticizes Trump
Meanwhile, GOP Arizona Senator John McCain, while speaking to the Munich Security Conference, stated, without using Trumps' name, that "we are flirting with authoritarianism," (ABC News, 2/17/17).
McCain, who also has expressed his objections to Trump's Muslim ban, was referring to Trump's depiction of the media as "the enemy of the American People," (ABC News, 2/17/17). Some observers, including McCain, are perplexed that Trump's focus is on singling out "enemies," as opposed to fostering friendships and alliances. "Each to his devices," as the saying goes.
