Trump dumps top lawyer who defied immigration order

Reuters: US President Donald Trump fired top federal government lawyer Sally Yates on Monday after she took the extraordinarily rare step of defying the White House and refused to defend new travel restrictions targeting seven Muslim-majority nations.

It was another dramatic twist in the unusually raucous roll-out of Trump’s directive that put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country, an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and a 90-day bar on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The Friday night ban prompted protests and chaos at airports on the weekend as customs officials struggled to put the order into practise, and the fallout spread to U.S. markets on Monday, where stocks suffered their biggest drop of 2017 and companies affected by the change spoke out against it.

Yates said late on Monday that the Justice Department would not defend the order against court challenges, saying that she did not believe it would be “consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.”

Hours later, she was fired. The White House said Yates “has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States” and portrayed her actions as political.

Trump has argued tougher vetting of immigrants is needed to protect America from terror attacks but critics complain that his order unfairly singles out Muslims and defiles America’s historic reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants.

Yates, an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama, was days away from being replaced by Trump’s pick for the top spot at the Justice Department, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, who is awaiting Senate confirmation.

“Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration,” the White House said in a statement.

The White House said that Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was sworn in at 9 p.m. ET and would be acting U.S. attorney general until Sessions is approved. Boente said in an interview with the Washington Post that he would enforce the immigration order. There have been only a handful of instances in U.S. history of top Justice Department officials publicly breaking with the White House.

he most famous example was in 1973, when then-Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy resigned rather than obey President Richard Nixon’s order to fire a special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

The incident, which became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” was a public relations disaster and is seen as a turning point in Nixon’s administration.

The drama at the Justice Department is another sign of how hastily Trump’s immigration order was developed and how little it was reviewed by the agencies now grappling to implement it.

The White House said key government officials were briefed before Trump signed the order on Friday, but there was little coordination or consultation, resulting in confusion. Most State Department officials found out about it from media reports.

Officials from the State Department circulated a draft memo of dissent on Monday, saying Trump’s move would hurt America’s image abroad and inflame anti-American sentiment. White House spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed the memo. “These career bureaucrats have a problem with it? I think that they should either get with the program or they can go,” he told reporters at his daily briefing. An internal Department of Homeland Security document seen by Reuters showed 348 visa holders were kept from boarding U.S.-bound flights this week, and more than 200 people came to the United States but were denied entry. More than 735 people were pulled aside for questioning by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at airports, including 394 green card holders, who are legal permanent residents of the United States, the document said.

Trump’s administration is granting waivers from the refugee ban to allow 872 people into the country this week - refugees that had already been cleared for resettlement in the United States and were in transit when the order came out.

Tens of thousands of people protested Trump’s order in major American cities and at airports on the weekend.

Tens of thousands protest in British cities against Trump’s travel ban

Reuters: Tens of thousands of people protested in London and other British cities 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 on Monday outside the Downing Street residence of Prime Minister Theresa May, the first leader to visit President Trump.

Some chanted “Shame on May” for her offer to Trump of a visit to Britain while 1.5 million people signed a petition calling for Trump’s planned trip – which will involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth – to be cancelled.

“It’s a lot worse under Trump than I was expecting, because it’s only been 10 days but he’s changed so much already,” Rawnak Jassm, a 23-year-old British-Iraqi, who joined the protest, told Reuters. “It’s pretty scary.”

Trump’s immigration order, which was signed just hours after his meeting with the British prime minister in Washington, has soured May’s attempt to show that post-Brexit vote Britain can have a “special relationship” with the world’s superpower.

Some British voters, including thousands on protests across Britain, have expressed concern that May has failed to criticise Trump sufficiently for his temporary ban on travel to the United States by people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. While the protests in Britain were smaller than those in the United States, they illustrate how Trump’s first days in office have had a sometimes unexpected impact on politics across the world, even in some close allies such as Britain.

Trump said the new controls were aimed at securing the United States by keeping out radical Islamic terrorists, but protesters in Britain said the measures were racist and anti-Muslim. Trump has denied the measures are anti-Muslim.

Jassm, on the protest outside Downing Street, expressed anger at May’s lack of criticism of Trump and urged the prime minister to stand up for the rights of all people.

“We have to campaign and make sure May stands up for the rights of everyone everywhere,” said Jassm, who is a project manager in local government.

May’s attempt to court Trump, who hailed Britain’s June 23 vote to leave the European Union as a “wonderful thing”, came in for particular criticism with some saying Britain was now in a weaker position after the Brexit vote.

“With Brexit, they have to go around the world, cap in hand,” said Rhys Edwards, a 29-year-old art consultant who attended the London protest.

Starbucks, Airbnb pledge support for migrants after Trump ban

AFP: US President Donald Trump’s border clampdown has stirred Starbucks and Airbnb to help those affected by the temporary immigration ban – pledging to hire more refugees and provide accommodation.

Trump’s measures suspend the arrival of all refugees for at least 120 days, Syrian refugees indefinitely and bars citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for three months, affecting many companies’ plans.

With lives plunged in chaos, Starbucks said it planned to take on 10,000 refugees worldwide over the next five years in response to Trump’s decree.

“I write to you today with deep concern, a heavy heart and a resolute promise,” Starbucks chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz said in a letter to employees posted on the company’s website Sunday.

“We are living in an unprecedented time, one in which we are witness to the conscience of our country, and the promise of the American Dream, being called into question.”

Schultz, a Democratic Party supporter, said his company had been in touch with employees affected by the Republican president’s executive order signed Friday.

The CEO said the refugee hires would be fleeing war, persecution and discrimination in the 75 countries where the company operates – with a particular focus on those who “have served with US troops as interpreters and support personnel,” alluding to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Airbnb said it would offer free accommodation “to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US.”

“Open doors brings all of US together,” tweeted company CEO Brian Chesky, asking those stranded by Trump’s ban to contact him for a place to stay. “Closing doors further divides US.”

“Not allowing countries or refugees into America is not right, and we must stand with those who are affected.”

The company will utilise its disaster response program, which connects hosts willing to offer their space to displaced people.

Some 80% of the online rental platform’s listings are outside of the United States. Airbnb also has measures in place to ensure housing for those in areas where no hosts are providing free shelter.

Schultz of Starbucks also defended Mexico, which Trump has said will have to pay for a wall along its long and porous border with the United States to deter immigrants, perhaps by imposing a 20 percent tariff on Mexican imports.

“Building bridges, not walls, with Mexico,” he wrote, voicing support for the country that has provided Starbucks with coffee for three decades and where nearly 600 Starbucks coffee shops employ 7,000 people.

“We stand ready to help and support our Mexican customers, partners and their families as they navigate what impact proposed trade sanctions, immigration restrictions and taxes might have on their business and their trust of Americans.

“But we will continue to invest in this critically important market all the same.”

Other companies also expressed solidarity and pledged hard cash. Lyft, a US ridesharing company, said it would donate $1-million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has issued lawsuits against Trump’s measures.

The company’s competitor Uber – which had come under fire on social media for continuing to operate during a New York taxi strike against the immigration ban – said it was committed to assisting drivers affected by the restrictions.

After a number of Silicon Valley bosses at the weekend slammed Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, several East Coast executives pledged their support to employees.

General Electric has “many employees from the named countries and we do business all over the region,” said CEO Jeffrey Immelt. 

“We stand with them and will work with the U.S. Administration to strive to find the balance between the need for security and the movement of law abiding people.”

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who is on a council of corporate bosses tasked with advising Trump on job growth, promised “unwavering commitment” to staff in a statement.