"The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!" Trump said on Twitter. It is unusual for a president to attack a member of the judiciary, which is an independent arm of the U.S. government.Also Read: US Reverses Revocation of Visas After Judge Stayed Trump Travel Ban
Because of the temporary restraining order, the U.S. government said travelers with valid visas would be allowed to enter the country. The State Department said almost 60,000 visas had been suspended because of Trump's ban.
The order had set off chaos and moved thousands of people to protest at airports across the United States last week.
"I am very happy that we are going to travel today. Finally, we made it," said Fuad Sharef, an Iraqi with an immigration visa who was prevented from boarding a flight to New York last week.
"I didn't surrender and I fought for my right and other people's right," Sharef told Reuters as he and his family prepared to fly from Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, to Istanbul and then to New York, before starting a new life in Nashville, Tennessee.
At Dulles International Airport outside Washington, volunteer lawyers also were in place to help travelers and monitor how visa holders and permanent residents were being treated as they arrived.REFUGEES ENSNARED
The Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday it would return to its normal procedures for screening travelers but that the Trump administration would fight to overturn Friday's ruling.
"At the earliest possible time, the Department of Justice intends to file an emergency stay of this order and defend the president's executive order, which is lawful and appropriate," DHS spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said a statement.
"I will not say if I have hope or not. I wait, watch and then I build my hopes," said Josephine Abu Assaleh, who was stopped from entering the United States after landing in Philadelphia last week with five members of her family.
Abu Assaleh, 60, and her family were granted U.S. visas in 2016, some 13 years after they initially made their applications.Also Read: Visa Holders Hurry to Board Flights to US Amid Reprieve
Iraqi refugee Nizar al-Qassab, 52, told Reuters in Lebanon: "If it really has been frozen, I thank God, because my wife and children should have been in America by now."
He said his family had been due to travel to the United States for resettlement on Jan. 31. The trip was canceled two days before that and he was now waiting for a phone call from U.N. officials overseeing their case.
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