Donald Trump has fired the acting US Attorney General Sally Yates, after she defied him over his controversial travel ban.

Ms Yates had ordered Justice Department lawyers not to enforce the US President's immigration ban targeting seven Muslim-majority nations.

The White House said that she would be replaced by Dana Boente, who is currently US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The President also sacked acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Daniel Ragsdale, without giving a reason why. Thomas Holman was announced as his acting replacement.

Press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement that Ms Yates "has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States".


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Ms Yates, who had been appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, told Justice Department lawyers in a letter on Monday that they would not defend Mr Trump's travel order in court.

She had said that she did not believe the order would be "consistent with this institution's solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what's right".

She also said that she was not convinced that the order was "lawful".

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The order put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country and banned refugees from Syria indefinitely.

It also barred citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

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Mr Spicer described Ms Yates as "weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration".

He added: "It is time to get serious about protecting our country.

"Calling for tougher vetting for individuals traveling from seven dangerous places is not extreme.

"It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country."

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Mr Boente will serve as acting attorney general until the Senate confirms Senator Jeff Sessions as his permanent replacement, a process that Mr Spicer said was being held up by Democratic senators "for strictly political reasons".

Soon after his appointment, Mr Boente vowed to defend the President's travel ban and ordered Department of Justice employees to ignore his predecessor's advice.

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The firing of Ms Yates comes amid growing dissent among senior Government officials about the travel ban, with some of Mr Trump's top advisers and fellow Republicans saying they had not been consulted.

Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, who is awaiting confirmation to lead the State Department, have told associates they were not aware of the details of the order until around the time Mr Trump signed it.

A large group of US diplomats has signed a memo criticising the order but Mr Spicer was unmoved by the growing opposition, saying: "They should either get with the programme or they can go".

Meanwhile, federal judges in New York and several other states have issued orders temporarily blocking the government from deporting people with valid visas who arrived after the ban started.

Washington state's attorney general has said he is suing Mr Trump over the order and the Council on American-Islamic Relations is doing the same, saying the order appears to favour Christian refugees over Muslim ones.

The courts face a complicated situation - federal law gives the President power to stop "any class of aliens" from entering if he thinks their entry would be "detrimental to the interests of the US".

But another law prevents discrimination against the issuing of an immigrant visa based on a person's nationality or birthplace.

Barack Obama returned to the political fray on Monday, appearing to back protesters and saying he "fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion".

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