London Protesters Call For UK To Withdraw Trump Invitation

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.