Acting US attorney general won't defend Trump's immigration order

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".