Washington: Roughly 900 US State Department officials signed an internal dissent memo critical of President Donald Trump's travel ban for refugees and immigrants from six Muslim-majority countries, a source familiar with the document said on Tuesday.
A senior State Department official confirmed that the memorandum in the department's "dissent channel" had been submitted to management.
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Trump's Supreme Court pick sets up Senate showdown
President Donald Trump moves up the announcement of his Supreme Court pick, after a wild weekend of nationwide protests over his executive order holding up immigration from several Muslim majority countries.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Monday he was aware of the memo but warned career diplomats that they should either "get with the program or they can go."
A draft of the dissent memo seen by Reuters argued that the executive order would sour relations with affected countries, inflame anti-American sentiment and hurt those who sought to visit the United States for humanitarian reasons.
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It said the policy "runs counter to core American values of non-discrimination, fair play and extending a warm welcome to foreign visitors and immigrants.
Trump on Friday signed an executive order that temporarily bans refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries, sparking tumult at US airports and protests in major American cities.
The ban affects Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Even before the executive order on immigration was issued, concern among State Department officials had been growing over news reports that Trump was about to ease sanctions against Russia, said one State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The resignation of at least four top State Department officials, including Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, who formally left the department on Tuesday, also caused some unease among diplomats who worried about a power vacuum.
On Tuesday, John Kelly, newly sworn in Homeland Security Secretary denied he had been cut out of the decision, saying "we knew it was coming" in spite of the confusion the decision triggered.
"It wasn't a surprise that it was coming, so we implemented it," he said.
Reuters with Fairfax Media