Trump set to end legal status of Ukrainians

US President Donald Trump's administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar with the matter said, potentially putting them on a fast-track to deportation.

- Bloomberg

WASHINGTON: A federal judge issued a long-term order blocking President Donald Trump's controversial attempt to freeze billions of dollars in Congress-approved loans, grants and other payments to recipients across the US.

Chief US District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction requested by a group of Democratic state attorneys general who sued over the spending freeze.

It's the second order in two weeks to block Trump's directive. A judge in Washington ruled in a similar case last week.

The judge said the interaction of the three "co-equal branches of government is an intricate, delicate, and sophisticated balance" that is "crucial" the functioning of the government, and that with the spending freeze the executive branch "put itself above Congress."