US judge temporarily halts deportations ordered by Trump

NEW YORK: A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York issued an emergency stay on Saturday that temporarily blocks the US government from sending people out of the country after they have landed at a US airport with valid visas.

The American Civil Liberties Union estimates the stay will affect 100 to 200 people detained at US airports or in transit, but government lawyers could not confirm that number.

The ruling by Judge Ann Donnelly of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York came during a hearing called after President Donald Trump issued an executive order blocking people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, and putting a temporary halt to refugee admissions.