JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO ADMIT 12,000 REFUGEES

A judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to admit around 12,000 refugees into the United States, a blow to the government’s efforts to reshape America’s immigration policy.

The order clarifies the limits imposed by an appeals court ruling, which allowed the Trump administration to suspend the refugee admissions system, but said it must admit people already granted refugee status with travel plans to the United States.

The Trump administration argued at a hearing last week that it should only have to admit 160 refugees who were scheduled to travel within two weeks of an executive order in January halting the system.

But US District Judge Jamal Whitehead overruled the claim yesterday criticizing the government’s interpretation of the policy, describing it a joke at the highest order.