LONDON :- Thousands of protesters have
marched on Parliament in London to demand that the British government withdraw
its invitation to U.S. President Donald Trump for a state visit. Criticism of
Conservative British Prime Minister Theresa May has swelled since her
Washington visit to meet Trump last month, when she confirmed plans for a
return visit by Trump to Britain expected in the summer.
Saturday's demonstration in the British
capital involved a two-mile (3-kilometer) march of several thousand people from
the U.S. embassy to the Houses of Parliament. Protesters chanted "Theresa
May, shame on you!" Lawmakers are expected to debate British plans to
invite Trump later this month. An online petition calling for May to rescind
the invite has attracted strong support, but May insists a Trump visit is
welcome.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) on Saturday
applauded the ruling by a federal judge to immediately halt President Trump's
travel ban on Muslim-majority countries. "I'm heartened by this decision
to halt Trump's immigration order, which runs afoul of our constitution and who
we are as a nation," Sanders tweeted Saturday morning.
"This was a good day for our system of
checks and balances," Sanders added in a statement. Following Trump's
executive order last Friday, Sanders condemned the ban as
"anti-Muslim."
"Trump's anti-Muslim order plays into
the hands of fanatics wishing to harm America. Love and compassion trump hatred
and intolerance," Sanders tweeted at the time. "Demagogues survive by
fostering hatred. We won't allow anyone to divide us up by our religion,
country of origin or the color of our skin."
Federal judge James Robart, who was appointed
by former President George W. Bush in 2003, ruled Friday that the executive
order would be stopped nationwide, effective immediately. Washington Attorney
General Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit three days after Trump
signed the executive order. The suit argued that the travel ban targets Muslims
and violates constitutional rights of immigrants and their families.
The ruling, made at the request of Washington
and Minnesota, is the broadest to date against Trump's executive order. Trump's
action bans people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Somalia from
entering the U.S. for 90 days. It also temporarily halts the United States'
refugee resettlement program for 120 days, while indefinitely suspending
resettlement for refugees from Syria.
“The administration's executive order raises
very serious constitutional questions, has thrown the enforcement of our
immigration laws into chaos and further sewn divisive, xenophobic and hateful
rhetoric into our national discussion,” Sanders said in his Saturday statement.
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