| 872 Refugees to Enter the US This Week, DHS Says Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:35 PM PST  Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on Tuesday said that 872 refugees will be allowed to enter the U.S. this week, while defending President Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees. "The executive order calls for refugees that were ready to travel where it could cause undue hardship, that they should be considered for waivers. There was widespread confusion over the weekend at airports around the world after Trump signed the executive order last Friday.
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| Trump immigration order may require legislation: U.S. lawmakers Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:14 PM PST  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After days of chaos at airports and confusion over details of President Donald Trump's immigration executive order, some of his fellow Republicans joined Democrats in saying Congress might need to consider legislation to address his new policies. Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it was too early to know all the implications of Trump's order banning travel into the United States by citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations, but lawmakers might eventually need to step in to modify it.
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| The Latest: Hundreds rally against order in New Jersey Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:07 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump, his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and other immigration actions (all times local):
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| Challenges to Trump's immigration orders spread to more U.S. states Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:07 PM PST  Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and Washington state joined the legal battle against the travel ban, which the White House deems necessary to improve national security. The challenges contend the order violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of religious freedom.
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| Exclusive: Only a third of Americans think Trump's travel ban will make them safer Posted: 31 Jan 2017 05:06 PM PST  By Chris Kahn NEW YORK (Reuters) - Imposing a temporary travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim countries, President Donald Trump said the move would help protect the United States from terrorism. Some Republican lawmakers criticized Trump's order and said it could backfire by giving terrorist organizations a new recruitment message.
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| Some nations affected by U.S. immigration order may stay on list Posted: 31 Jan 2017 04:26 PM PST  By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries temporarily barred from the United States by President Donald Trump's executive order may be blocked indefinitely, and others might be added to the list, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Tuesday. The executive action was not explicit about how to handle a wide range of people trying to enter the United States, including permanent residents, students and even Iraqi pilots training to protect U.S. troops.
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| Report: Military did not distort intelligence reports on IS Posted: 31 Jan 2017 04:17 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — A Defense Department review delivered to Congress on Tuesday concludes that senior leaders at the U.S. Central Command did not exaggerate the progress the U.S. was making in fighting Islamic State militants, two U.S. officials said. |
| Iraqi man released from Texas detention following challenge Posted: 31 Jan 2017 04:13 PM PST DALLAS (AP) — An Iraqi man was released Tuesday by federal authorities after his overnight detention at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport prompted a legal aid group to file a challenge in federal court. |
| After Trump order, volunteer lawyers descend on big airports Posted: 31 Jan 2017 04:06 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — It had been a few years since attorney Roman Zelichenko left immigration law for a career in finance, and longer still since he pulled an all-nighter.
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| About 900 State Department officials sign protest memo: source Posted: 31 Jan 2017 03:56 PM PST  About 900 U.S. State Department officials signed an internal dissent memo protesting a travel ban by U.S. President Donald Trump on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, a source familiar with the document said on Tuesday, in a rebellion against the new president's policies. A senior State Department official confirmed the memorandum had been submitted to acting Secretary of State Tom Shannon through the department's "dissent channel," a process in which officials can express unhappiness over policy (http://bit.ly/2jOYW0y).
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| German police arrest three suspected jihadists Posted: 31 Jan 2017 03:36 PM PST  German police said they arrested three people in Berlin on Tuesday suspected of trying to reach foreign "war zones" in order to train to carry out an attack. The suspects may be linked to the Islamic State group and had "planned to travel to war zones," likely Syria or Iraq, a Berlin police spokesman told AFP. The suspects, whose gender was not immediately given, were aged 21, 31 and 45, the spokesman said.
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| First of 911 calls from Florida airport shooting released Posted: 31 Jan 2017 03:28 PM PST FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A terrified girl trapped in a janitor's closet and a Delta flight crew hiding in a briefing room were among the 911 callers during the Florida airport shooting spree that killed five people and wounded six others. |
| US official says 872 refugees to be allowed in Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:56 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said 872 refugees will be allowed into the United States this week despite a presidential order suspending the U.S. refugees program.
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| Trump migration ban risks boosting extremist threat: experts Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:55 PM PST  President Donald Trump's order blocking immigrants from seven mostly-Muslim countries in the name of national security could backfire and increase the threat of extremist attacks in the United States, US experts say. A string of recent attacks on US soil -- including a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University last November and the June 2016 massacre at an Orlando nightclub in June 2016 -- have involved Muslim attackers who became radicalized inside the United States.
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| Trump fears hang over global stocks Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:39 PM PST  Wall Street stocks were pressured for a second session in a row Tuesday on a combination of worries about Trump administration policies and disappointing earnings.
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| Challenges to Trump's immigration orders spread to more U.S. states Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:35 PM PST Massachusetts, New York and Virginia joined the legal battle against the travel ban, which the White House deems necessary to improve national security. San Francisco became the first U.S. city to sue to challenge a Trump directive to withhold federal money from U.S. cities that have adopted sanctuary policies toward undocumented immigrants, which local officials argue help local police by making those immigrants more willing to report crimes. |
| Some Sept. 11 families speak out against Trump's travel ban Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:23 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Some families of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks spoke out Tuesday against President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries. |
| U.S. to apply 'extreme vetting' in refugee swap deal with Australia Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:20 PM PST  By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - The United States will apply "extreme vetting" to up to 1,250 asylum seekers it has agreed to resettle as part of an agreement with Australia, a spokesman for President Trump said in the United States on Tuesday. Washington agreed a deal late last year to resettle refugees, mainly from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, held in Australia's processing centers on remote Pacific islands in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Under the deal, Australia will in return resettle refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
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| US misfires in online fight against Islamic State Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:19 PM PST  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — On any given day at MacDill Air Force Base, web crawlers scour social media for potential recruits to the Islamic State group. Then, in a high-stakes operation to counter the extremists' propaganda, language specialists employ fictitious identities and try to sway the targets from joining IS ranks.
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| Texas Muslims decry Trump policies at capitol rally in Austin Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:14 PM PST  With arms locked and voices joined to sing the U.S. national anthem, more than 1,000 people rallied at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday against Trump administration immigration policies and travel restrictions aimed at seven mostly Muslim countries. Texas Muslim Capitol Day, designed to show Muslims how the state government in Austin works, has been held for more than a decade when the legislature meets every other year for its regular session. This year's event held increased significance after Republican President Donald Trump last week imposed the travel restrictions, and a Texas Republican lawmaker held a meeting over what he sees as Islamic threats.
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| Germany arrests three suspected of Islamic State links Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:09 PM PST German police arrested three men in Berlin on Tuesday on suspicion of having close links to Islamic State militants and planning to travel to the Middle East for combat training, a police spokesman said on Tuesday. The newspaper Bild reported that the three suspects had close links to Islamic State members in Syria and Iraq and were frequent visitors of a mosque in the Berlin district of Moabit that Anis Amri, who attacked a Berlin Christmas market in December, also used to visit. |
| In First 72 Hours of President Trump's Travel Ban, Refugees, Asylum Seekers Describe Chaos, Confusion Posted: 31 Jan 2017 02:00 PM PST  Abdallh Khadra's 3-year-old daughter Muna has gone to bed thousands of miles away from him every night for the past three months. Khadra's fight to get Muna back took a desperate turn Friday when President Trump signed an executive order to instate an immediate travel ban on refugees and people traveling to the U.S. with visas from seven majority Muslim countries, including Syria, where Muna was born. "We don't believe that we cannot get her," Khadra said.
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| Refugees anticipate family reunions, instead endure doubt Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:56 PM PST  From married couples to mothers and daughters, President Donald Trump's executive order banning refugees from certain countries has created profound uncertainty for families in America and abroad. Many refugees in the U.S. had expected to reunite with their relatives any day, but will now have to wait.
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| Dissident US diplomats defy Trump on travel ban Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:55 PM PST  A group of US diplomats declared their opposition to President Donald Trump's travel ban Tuesday, despite the White House warning that they should get behind his agenda or resign. A large group of diplomats from posts around the world submitted a "dissent memo" through an official State Department channel, a spokeswoman confirmed. Trump's White House argues that the ban is necessary to slow arrivals from countries plagued by violent extremism while his administration draws up tough new rules to weed out potential terrorists.
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| Soccer-Trump policies cloud potential U.S. World Cup bid Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:55 PM PST By Simon Evans Jan 31 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's controversial immigration policies could hurt an expected U.S. bid to host the 2026 World Cup although plenty of time remains for concerns to ease before the decision by world soccer's governing body FIFA. The United States hosted the World Cup in 1994 and is viewed as the favourite to host the 2026 tournament since the 2018 and 2022 finals were awarded to Russia and Qatar, respectively. FIFA has said that neither Europe nor Asia will be able to bid for 2026, leaving the CONCACAF region, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, as the clear frontrunner. |
| Trump faces wall of resistance to immigration order Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:49 PM PST  US President Donald Trump has crushed the most defiant display yet of official opposition to his immigration and refugee restrictions -- but resistance continued to spread Tuesday, inside and outside the government. Trump's swift dismissal of acting attorney general Sally Yates for refusing to defend his executive order capped a night of high drama, Washington-style, that drew comparisons with a flurry of urgent housekeeping by Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal. Trump came out fighting on Tuesday, hitting out at Democrats for stalling on the approval of his nominee for attorney general and the rest of his cabinet.
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| Some Sept. 11 families join criticism of Trump immigration order Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:49 PM PST  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington criticized President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration on Tuesday, saying they did not want the memories of those killed used to justify harming refugees. Trump last Friday banned travel into the United States by people from seven Muslim-majority countries, leading to protests, confusion and legal challenges. "This is totally unacceptable," John Sigmund, whose sister, Johanna Sigmund, died inside the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, told reporters on a conference call.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump claims on travel ban misleading, wrong Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:39 PM PST  In the face of widespread criticism, President Donald Trump and other member of his administration have staunchly defended his order temporarily banning refugees and nearly all citizens from seven Muslim-majority ...
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| Super Bowl teams give Trump silent treatment Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:34 PM PST  By Steve Keating HOUSTON (Reuters) - While much of the world is talking about U.S. President Donald Trump's executive orders, including travel restrictions on seven Muslim-majority nations, players and coaches at the Super Bowl remain silent. Movie and television stars, business tycoons and politicians have all expressed concern over President Trump's controversial policies but members of the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, who will clash in the National Football League's championship game on Sunday, dodged questions with the same skill they slip tackles. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was willing to answer a question about his underwear habits but refused to talk politics.
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| U.N. chief warns border control policies must not discriminate Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:28 PM PST  By Ned Parker UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday emphasized the need for nondiscriminatory border controls, comments widely seen as a criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump's temporary freeze on U.S. entry for all refugees and citizens from seven Muslim nations. "Countries have the right, even the obligation, to responsibly manage their borders to avoid infiltration by members of terrorist organizations," Guterres said on Tuesday. "This cannot be based on any form of discrimination related to religion, ethnicity or nationality because that is against the fundamental principles and values on which our societies are based." Guterres did not mention Trump or his policies by name.
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| NFL-Super Bowl teams give Trump silent treatment Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:26 PM PST By Steve Keating HOUSTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - While much of the world is talking about U.S. President Donald Trump's executive orders, including travel restrictions on seven Muslim-majority nations, players and coaches at the Super Bowl remain silent. Movie and television stars, business tycoons and politicians have all expressed concern over President Trump's controversial policies but members of the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, who will clash in the National Football League's championship game on Sunday, dodged questions with the same skill they slip tackles. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was willing to answer a question about his underwear habits but refused to talk politics. |
| Canada’s response to a mosque massacre Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:26 PM PST When a house of worship is attacked, the response often brings more than the usual outrage over such an act of hate. Sacred places, after all, whether a mosque, church, temple, or synagogue, are supposed to be free of fear and full of love. For Canadians, a Jan. 29 shooting at a mosque in Quebec City that killed six Muslims certainly provoked anger. |
| Exclusive: Trump's travel ban polarizes America - Reuters/Ipsos poll Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:16 PM PST By Chris Kahn NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are sharply divided over President Donald Trump's order to temporarily block U.S. entry for all refugees and citizens of seven Muslim countries, with slightly more approving the measure than disapproving, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday. The Jan. 30-31 poll found that 49 percent of American adults said they either "strongly" or "somewhat" agreed with Trump's order, while 41 percent "strongly" or "somewhat" disagreed and another 10 percent said they don't know. Some 53 percent of Democrats said they "strongly disagree" with Trump's action while 51 percent of Republicans said they "strongly agree." Trump's executive order banned refugees from entering the United States for 120 days, and it placed an indefinite hold on Syrian refugees. |
| Some nations affected by U.S. immigration order may stay on list: official Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:10 PM PST By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nationals from the seven Muslim-majority countries temporarily blocked from entering the United States by President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration may be barred indefinitely, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Tuesday. Under the order released Friday, travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen are banned from entering the United States for at least 90 days while Kelly and others determine whether there is enough information available to vet them. White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Tuesday described the seven countries affected by the executive order as places "where frankly we don't get the information that we need for people coming into this country." Confusion mounted over the weekend as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, rushed to brief airlines, customs agents and others involved in air travel about how to implement Trump's executive order, which was not explicit about how to handle green card holders and other previously admissible populations. |
| White House fights back against calling Trump’s order on immigration a ‘Muslim ban’ Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:09 PM PST  During a briefing Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer disputed the notion that President Trump's executive order halting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries constitutes a "ban."
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| US travel 'extreme vetting' to include social media, phone contacts Posted: 31 Jan 2017 01:05 PM PST  Travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries singled out for "extreme vetting" will face scrutiny of their social media footprint and phone records, the new Homeland Security secretary said Tuesday. Secretary John Kelly sought to explain President Donald Trump's travel ban four days after he issued it with no warning, setting off mass protests, legal challenges and confusion. On Friday, Trump ordered a suspension of arrivals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as well as all refugees, to give time for the new government to develop procedures for extreme vetting to weed out potential extremists.
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| Defense for accused New York bomber Rahimi vows fight over DNA Posted: 31 Jan 2017 12:53 PM PST  Lawyers for the man accused of injuring 30 people by detonating a bomb in New York City complained that government investigators took a DNA sample from him without his attorneys present and promised a fight to keep that evidence out of court. Defense attorneys also sought to delay the trial of Ahmad Khan Rahimi, 29, an Afghan-born U.S. citizen, saying a U.S. judge and prosecutors were pushing for too prompt a start for a case that could result in life in prison. Rahimi has pleaded not guilty to a host of both U.S. and New Jersey state charges that he detonated bombs in New York and New Jersey in September and left behind others that failed to explode.
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| Olympians urge speedy resolution to Trump travel ban Posted: 31 Jan 2017 12:23 PM PST (Reuters) - The World Olympians Association (WOA) expressed concern on Tuesday about the potential impact U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on visitors from some Muslim-majority nations could have on athletes and urged a quick resolution. The WOA, which serves as the member organization for the more than 120,000 Olympians worldwide, wants to ensure the right of athletes to compete is protected in the wake of Trump's controversial immigration order. "Like many across the world, the WOA is concerned about the impact of the recent executive order on immigration signed by President Trump," WOA President Joël Bouzou said in a statement. |
| University leader tells banned-travel students to stay put Posted: 31 Jan 2017 12:22 PM PST RENO, Nev. (AP) — The University of Nevada, Reno is recommending that students and scholars from the seven countries listed in President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration remain in the United States the next four months. |
