Trump’s Immigration Ban Blocked? Latest Fed Judge Deals Blow To President’s Order, Allows Some To Enter Country

President Donald Trump’s ban on immigration and travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries took another blow in federal court Tuesday night, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. ruled in his Los Angeles court that Trump’s administration must allow immigrants with previous clearance for legal residency to enter the U.S., flying well in the face of an executive order that led to an estimated 109 people detained at airports and protests around the country over the weekend.

The ruling does not cover tourists, students or foreign nationals hoping to travel to the U.S. for business. Birotte issued an emergency order, or temporary restraining order, that largely blocks government officials from enforcing the ban, based off on a case filed Tuesday by 28 people originally from Yemen, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The group is a mix of U.S. citizens residing stateside as well as family members who stayed in Yemen but had previously received immigrant visas to enter the country. Yemen is one of the seven countries listed in the order Trump signed Friday.

Birotte said the plaintiffs were “likely to suffer irreparable harm” unless he ruled and stated that they be allowed to enter the country. Lawyers for the plaintiffs asked if the judge could expand his ruling to apply to anyone with a valid immigrant visa from all seven countries and he did. Travelers from Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and the Syria were also barred by Trump’s order.

California is now the fourth state to have such a ruling against the ban. Last week, a federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the ban by stating those who have already come to the U.S. or were en route and have visas could not be kicked out, CNN reported.

Other rulings were handed down in Virginia, Washington State and Massachusetts, where two judges declared the government must alert those affected by the ban that they could still travel to Boston over a seven-day period.

"Customs and Border Protection shall notify airlines that have flights arriving at Logan Airport of this Order and the fact that individuals on these flights will not be detained or returned based solely on the basis of the Executive Order," Judges Allison Burroughs and Judith Dein wrote.