LIVE: World reacts to Trump's 'Muslim ban'
- UK, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Germany, Canada and more all condemn US President's executive order
- Federal judges grants stay of deportation for migrants currently stuck in transit at US airports
- Thousands protest in US and across world against executive order
Live Updates
"From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go!": Americans are sending a powerful message to Donald Trump on his Muslim ban
US President Donald Trump on Monday fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she ordered Justice Department lawyers not to enforce Trump's immigration ban, the White House spokesman said on Twitter.
Trump has named Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to replace Yates, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a tweet. Yates, an Obama administration holdover, said she was not convinced Trump's executive order barring travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations was lawful.
Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates has told Justice Department lawyers not to defend President Donald Trump's order temporarily banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, CNN reported on Monday.
“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 said in a letter to Justice Department attorneys.
“At present, 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,” it read.
Yates was named deputy attorney general by then-President Barack Obama in 2015 and asked to stay on as acting head of the Justice Department by Trump.
According to a New York Times report, Yates' position is largely symbolic since Trump's pick to head the Justice Department, Senator Jeff Sessions, is expected to be confirmed soon by the US senate, "but it highlights the deep divide at the Justice Department and elsewhere in the government over Mr. Trump’s order".
Democratic U.S. senators tried to force a vote on a bill to rescind President Donald Trump's order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations on Monday, but were blocked by a Republican lawmaker.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said she had 27 co-sponsors of a bill to rescind the order Trump signed on Friday, but under Senate rules it takes only one member to prevent a vote.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton blocked consideration of the measure.
Major world equity markets fell on Monday and the dollar slipped against the safe-haven yen after new US immigration curbs stirred concerns about the impact of US President Donald Trump's policies on global trade and the economy.
Stocks posted their worse day so far this year on Wall Street after Trump's executive order on Friday, to bar Syrian refugees and suspend travel to the United States from seven countries, put the spotlight back on his protectionist bent.
Microsoft Corp said it has been cooperating with the Washington State Attorney General's Office, which is suing in federal court to stop President Donald Trump's order restricting immigration from several Muslim countries.
Microsoft said it was providing information about the order's impact "in order to be supportive. And we'd be happy to testify further if needed," spokesman Pete Wootton said in a statement.
Tens of thousands of people protested in London and other British cities on Monday against President Donald Trump's ban on entry to the United States by refugees and people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Thousands of people, some holding placards reading "No to Racism, No to Trump", "Dump Trump" and "I stand with Muslims", joined a protest outside the Downing Street residence of Prime Minister Theresa May, who visited Trump in Washington on Friday.
Some chanted "Shame on May" for her offer to Trump of a state visit to Britain.
Nearly a 1.5 million people have signed a petition calling for Trump's planned British visit - which will involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth - to be cancelled.
Middle East Eye covered the protest in a video that you can see below.
Former US president Barack Obama expressed his objections Monday to any faith-based discrimination, in an apparent dig at his successor Donald Trump's ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries entering the country.
"With regard to comparisons to President Obama's foreign policy decisions, as we've heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," his spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement.
The former president is "heartened" by protests that have taken place across the country, Lewis said.
"Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake," the statement added.
Speaking in the British parliament on Monday, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described Trump's executive order as "divisive and wrong".
He said it was "not a measure that this government would consider".
However Johnson said it was "totally right" that Trump should be accorded the honour of a state visit to Britain - despite a public petition signed by more than 1.2 million UK citizens calling for the official visit to be suspended.
He added that he had spoken to the US administration and confirmed that British passport holders would not be banned from the US.
"The general principle is that all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the US," he told MPs. "We have received assurances from the US embassy that this executive order will make no difference to any British passport holder irrespective of their country of birth or if they hold another passport."
His comments contradicted a statement released by the US embassy in the UK on Monday which said that dual-nationality holders would be subject to the ban.
Johnson emphasised "the vital importance of this country's alliance with the United States... on defence and intelligence and security we work more closely than any two nations in the world and that is to our benefit."
"Where we have differences with the US we will not hesitate to express them.... [but will] work alongside Trump administration in mutual interest of our two countries."
Discriminating against people on the basis of their nationality is illegal, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Twitter on Monday, referring to US President Donald Trump's travel ban on nationals from seven Middle Eastern countries.
"Discrimination on nationality alone is forbidden under #humanrights law," Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a tweet sent by his office. "The US ban is also mean-spirited, and wastes resources needed for proper counter-terrorism."
U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday as investors turned defensive due to uncertainty sparked by President Donald Trump's orders to curb travel and immigration from some countries.
The promise of tax cuts and simpler regulations had lured investors into equity markets since Trump's election in November, but some are worried about the potential risk of his protectionist policies.
"A new week of trading is getting off on a sour note, as key macro news, Fed action, international and domestic backlash over Trump's immigration stand are putting investors on the defense," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial, wrote in a note.
"We look for a bumpy to negative ride as the 'Worry Trade' rules the day."
The United Nations has condemned Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and order to stop Syrians and travellers from six other Muslim-majority countries entering the US amid mounting international anger.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and International Organisation for Migration called on the new president’s administration to continue offering asylum to people fleeing war and persecution, a right protected by international law.
Donald Trump said that "there is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they can enter our country" as he explained his suspension of visas from seven majority Muslim nations.
Justifying his controversial ban on citizens from countries including Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Iran as being a "big part" of his election campaign, he told his followers to "study the world" and we've done just that.
None of the seven countries on Trump's visa suspension list are in the list of countries where most foreign fighters joining militant groups originate.
