Brooklyn judge defies a president
ACLU, other entities weigh in; Unprecedented demonstrations
Brooklyn’s federal court was at the center of a political maelstrom over the weekend following protests and chaos at airports around the country triggered by President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, issued late Friday.
Demonstrations on Saturday that started at Kennedy International Airport — where immigrants and green card holders were being detained — culminated outside the federal courthouse on Cadman Plaza East where Judge Ann M. Donnelly, unruffled by the cacophony outside and outrage in the world’s media, issued a temporary stay.
Donnelly, at the eye of the storm having international repercussion, is much admired in Brooklyn as a brilliant judge and a “no-nonsense type,” her colleagues say. (See related story by Rob Abruzzese.) She was nominated to be a federal judge by President Barack Obama on the recommendation of Sen. Charles Schumer.