After a Federal Judge in Washington State issued a verbal restraining order against President Donald Trump's so-called "Muslim Ban" yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security announced early this morning that it is suspending "any and all actions" related to President Trump's executive order.
"DHS personnel will resume inspection of travelers in accordance with standard policy and procedure," read a statement from the department.
Although the return to "standard policy and procedure" means that refugees and citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries with the appropriate visas are now able to freely travel to the United States, the question remains, will they?
After a week of chaos and confusion, during which the State Department reportedly canceled some 60,000 formerly-valid travel visas, it was unclear how rapidly the most up-to-date information was making its way to the frontline workers at airlines, airports and immigrations and customs enforcement (ICE) counters around the world.
Even after the reversal of part of the executive order, earlier this week, which deemed that dual citizens holding passports from affected countries would be allowed to travel to the U.S. after all, isolated reports emerged indicating that affected dual citizens had still been blocked in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Adding to the confusion, President Trump has vowed to overturn the "so-called" judge's ruling in a tweet early this morning.
"The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!" said the tweet.
Trump also tweeted:
"When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot, come in & out, especially for reasons of safety &.security - big trouble!"
The Washington judge, James Robart, deemed the executive order "unconstitutional" because it discriminates against Muslims.
The White House has declared it will appeal the ruling.
"The president's order is intended to protect the homeland and he has the constitutional authority and responsibility to protect the American people," said White House press secretary.
Interestingly, while Trump's executive order has received harsh criticism from around the globe, many Americans seem to support the ban. In an Ipsos poll conducted for Reuters, 48 percent of Americans agree with President Trump's order, while just 41 percent disagree.
The specific poll question asked: "Do you agree or disagree with the Executive Order that President Trump signed blocking refugees and banning people from seven Muslim majority countries from entering the U.S.?"
For the short term, travelers should see a return to normalcy. Airlines have been notified that they should allow affected travelers to board their flights. (Earlier this week, America's top three airlines promised to issue full refunds and other re-booking options for affected travelers.)
In Washington State, Attorney General Bob Ferguson is hailing Roberts' ruling as a victory.
"The Constitution prevailed today," Ferguson said. "No one is above the law - not even the President."
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