Barack Obama breaks silence to condemn Donald Trump's travel ban

In an unprecedented move, former US president Barack Obama has spoken out against his successor Donald Trump's immigration ban.

Obama, who left office less than two weeks ago, said he was "heartened" by the protests against the latest executive order barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

"Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organise and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake," said a spokesman for the former president.

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Although others, including Democrats and activists, have spoken against the "extreme vetting measures", it is rare for a former president to criticise his successors - much less just ten days out of office, says the Daily Telegraph.

It "indicated that Mr Obama felt compelled to speak out swiftly against what he sees as a misguided start to a new administration", says the New York Times.

Customarily, outgoing presidents and their administrations allow some form of grace period to their replacement. However, Obama warned at his last press conference on 18 January that he would not be afraid to speak out against the new administration if he thought "the nations ideals were under threat".

Trump's executive order bans people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days and halts refuges from entering the country for 120 days. Syrian refugees will be banned from the US indefinitely.

Britons with dual citizenship are exempt.

It has been greeted with protests across the US and in the UK.