U.S. President Donald Trump wasted no time Monday night in firing an acting attorney general who earlier in the day ordered the Justice Department not to defend his executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven mostly Muslim countries.
A White House statement said Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, "betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States."
The statement also called Yates "weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration."
It said Trump relieved her of her duties and named Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to serve as acting attorney general. The president's nominee for attorney general, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, is likely to be confirmed soon by his Senate colleagues.
Earlier Monday, Yates wrote a letter to Justice Department lawyers saying, "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."
Then-President Barack Obama appointed Yates to be deputy attorney general in 2015, and she was asked to stay on by the Trump administration until a new attorney general is confirmed by the Senate.
After Trump relieved Yates of her duties, the White House said, "Calling for tougher vetting for individuals traveling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary."
At the White House briefing Monday, spokesman Sean Spicer launched a fresh defense of Trump's sweeping travel ban, saying only a tiny fraction of those entering U.S. territory since Friday have been affected.
Spicer told reporters that 109 people have so far been stopped from entering the United States, out of 325,000 foreign nationals who have entered the country in a single 24-hour period since the ban was imposed.
He said those 109 individuals had been "temporarily inconvenienced," and characterized those detentions as a small price to pay to ensure the safety of all Americans.
Trump took to Twitter earlier Monday to defend his executive order, which suspends U.S. entry to all refugees for 120 days, and bans Syrian refugees indefinitely. The decree further blocks citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia from entering U.S. territory for a period of three months.
Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage,.....
protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer. Secretary Kelly said that all is going well with very few problems. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!
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Trump has insisted the ban is not a religious measure targeting Muslims, instead calling it a series of precautionary steps needed to keep America safe.
However, the national litigation director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Lena Masri, on Monday called the ban a "Muslim exclusion order" and said her organization was filing two lawsuits challenging the executive orders.
The ban was initially described as blocking green card holders from Iran and the six other Muslim majority nations from reentering U.S. territory, but the Trump administration has since sought to clarify the directive, saying green card holders and non-citizen visa holders will no longer be automatically blocked.
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer continued to attack the travel restrictions Monday, saying the ban should be reversed immediately "because it is un-American."
On the floor of the Senate, he warned colleagues that Islamic State extremists stand to gain the most from the travel ban, saying they "want nothing more than to paint the United States as a country at war with Islam." He also reminded his audience that America was founded "by the descendants of asylum seekers,” and that the country has been "constantly invigorated by immigrants."
Senior Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Trump's order Sunday, saying the confusion at airports showed the measure was "not properly vetted."
Trump responded to McCain and Graham on Twitter, calling them "weak on immigration" and saying they should be focused on Islamic State, illegal immigration and border security.
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also blasted the travel ban.