Trump defends controversial sackings as Democrats step up opposition

The US president fired acting attorney general Sally Yates after she directed justice department attorneys not to defend his executive order halting arrivals from seven mainly Muslim countries

Donald Trump fired acting attorney general Sally Yates after she directed justice department attorneys not to defend his executive order halting arrivals from seven mainly Muslim countries. Alex Wong / Getty Images North America / AFPShow less

NEW YORK // Donald Trump has moved swiftly to defend an immigration shake-up in which he sacked the acting US attorney general and the acting director of the country’s immigration agency amid continuing criticism of his travel bans.

The dismissal of Sally Yates, who was appointed by the Obama administration to act as the government’s chief law officer until Mr Trump’s own choice could be sworn in, exposes legal concerns over an executive order halting arrivals from seven mainly Muslim countries.

No reason was given for the removal of Daniel Ragsdale as the acting director of US immigration and customs enforcement but it added to a growing sense of political turmoil.

On Tuesday, Democrats said they would step up their opposition in congress just as Mr Trump prepared to unveil his choice for supreme court justice and as the senate judiciary committee was about to vote on Jeff Sessions, the president’s nomination for attorney general.

Senate Democrats boycotted similar votes to confirm Mr Trump’s health and finance secretaries on Tuesday, leading to the ballots being postponed after the minimum number of senators required could not be reached.

Ms Yates was removed from her post in an extraordinary public showdown after she directed justice department attorneys not to defend Mr Trump’s executive order. She said the department’s job was to “stand for what is right”.

"At present, I am not convinced that the defence of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful," she wrote in a letter to lawyers on Monday according to The New York Times.

By Monday evening she had been fired and publicly chastised.

“Ms Yates is an Obama administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration,” said Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary.

Dana Boente, federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia and also an Obama appointee, was immediately sworn in to replace Ms Yates and ordered the department to defend “the lawful orders of our president”.

The United States has been hit by mass protests ever since Mr Trump signed an executive order on Friday suspending the country’s entire refugee programme and barring travellers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country.

Republican senators and congressmen are among those expressing reservations at measures they see as eroding America’s reputation as a haven for those in need.

They have also criticised the Trump administration’s botched handling of the order.

But the new president needs the support of his party’s senators and congressmen to ensure his cabinet selections win senate approval. In particular Mr Trump faces a battle to ensure the confirmation of Mr Sessions, the architect of his immigration plan and a figure dogged by old allegations of racism.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump tried to blame the opposition for his troubles, tweeting: “When will the Democrats give us our attorney general and rest of cabinet! They should be ashamed of themselves! No wonder DC doesn’t work!”

His sacking of Ms Yates, the acting head of the justice department, drew comparisons with former US president Richard Nixon. Mr Nixon’s attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned in what became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” rather than fire a prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

But Jeanne Zaino, professor of political science at New York’s Iona College, said it was unprecedented for Ms Yates to be sacked so early in a president’s tenure.

“You have people in the lower levels of government who are saying what’s happening here is being done without knowledge, without discussion, without vetting and I think she was responding to that,” Ms Zaino said.

There is a growing sense that Mr Trump’s lack of political experience and his desire to rapidly exert his authority are unnerving parts of his administration.

the Associated Press reported that at least three senior officials — defence secretary Jim Mattis, homeland security secretary John Kelly, and Rex Tillerson, who is awaiting senate confirmation to lead the state department — have told associates they were not aware of details of the executive order regarding immigration until around the time Mr Trump signed it.

And moves such as the sacking of Ms Yates are emboldening opponents who are now protesting on a daily basis against a president who not only came to office with low approval ratings but who did not win the popular vote.

In Britain, meanwhile, the parliament said it would hold a debate next month on the prime minister’s invitation to Mr Trump to make a state visit to the country. It came after more than 1.6 million signed a petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn.

Iraq, however, will not retaliate to Mr Trump’s ban on Iraqi nationals because it does not want to lose Washington’s cooperation in the war on ISIL, prime minister Haider Al Abadi said on Tuesday in his first reaction to the executive order.

But, he added: “You come to the victim to hold him accountable, to the people who are sacrificing, who are fighting terrorism, to punish them.”

* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters