The Department of Homeland Security insisted that it will continue to implement President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order to temporarily bar US entry to refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations, although it will comply with judicial rulings against the measure.

“The Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce all of President Trump’s Executive Orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people,” Efe news quoted a statement by the DHS on Sunday.

Trump’s decree, the DHS statement emphasized, “affects a minor portion of international travellers, and is a first step towards re-establishing control over America’s borders and national security.”

The magnate sparked enormous controversy and confusion on Friday by signing the executive order designed to combat jihadist terrorism.

The order suspends for 120 days the entry of all refugees and the issuing of visas for 90 days for citizens from seven countries — Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran — until new mechanisms can be put in place to screen them more effectively.

The temporary ban on Saturday created chaos and outrage around the world, while numerous travellers found their access to US territory blocked and protests were staged at several US airports.

Federal judge Ann M. Donnelly blocked part of the controversial ban in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against Trump’s executive order that called its constitutionality into question.

After the judge’s ruling, federal judges in Virginia, Seattle and Boston issued similar rulings.