SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Saturday that a controversial refugee resettlement deal with the United States would go ahead, despite U.S. immigration officials postponing interviews with asylum seekers.

An undated handout image supplied by Amnesty International claiming to show the view of inside the living quarters at the country's Australian-run detention centre on the Pacific island nation of Nauru. Amnesty International/Handout via REUTERS

Reuters reported on Friday that U.S. officials had pulled planned second-round interviews with detainees in an Australian camp on the Pacific island of Nauru, suggesting Washington is already blocking progress on a controversial refugee resettlement deal.

Detainees and an official source said interview dates were pulled on Saturday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and stopped visits by travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Bishop said both countries were still working through the details of the agreement, which sparked a rare diplomatic spat between the two staunch allies, with Trump berating Australia’s prime minister in an angry phone call.

“The agreement is to be honored by the Trump administration (so) I’m pleased this agreement will continue,” Bishop told reporters in Western Australia.

“We remain in contact with the Trump administration and our embassy in Washington is also working with U.S. officials and we expect that vetting process would be as tough as Australia’s vetting process in terms of health and security checks,” she added.

Bishop said “my understanding is that interviewing and vetting is still taking place”, without providing any further details.

Several detainees on Nauru showed Reuters the canceled interview dates in their online applications, while a source said the second-round interviews had been postponed while officials tried to work out what was meant by the “extreme vetting” announced by the White House.

Under the refugee swap deal, agreed in the final months of Barack Obama’s presidency late last year, the United States would take up to 1,250 asylum seekers. In return, Australia would take refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Trump has begrudgingly said he planned to stand by the deal, but described it on Twitter as “dumb”.

The White House has yet to determine and make public what an extreme vetting process would entail, but detainees and their advocates are concerned it would effectively rule out all the eligible detainees.

Thousands of protesters rallied across Australia on Saturday condemning Trump’s executive order and demanding an end to Australia’s offshore detention of asylum seekers.

A U.S. federal judge on Friday put a nationwide block on Trump’s order, although his administration could still have the policy put back into effect on appeal. </s> WASHINGTON – White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer will give a briefing today and take questions from the press outlining the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration.

This is the first press conference since Trump signed an executive order on Friday night banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for the next 90 days and suspending the admission of all refugees for 120 days.

The immigration ban caused confusion and uncertainty and sparked nationwide protests. </s> Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says US officials are continuing to interview asylum seekers in Nauru as part of the refugee deal with America, despite lingering uncertainty over the agreement.

Reuters has reported interviews on Nauru had been suspended because US officials were uncertain about what security checks were going to be imposed on refugees under the agreement.

But Ms Bishop denied there had been a pause.

"The agreement is to be honoured by the Trump administration [so] I'm pleased this agreement will continue."

A US Government source also told the ABC officials were pushing ahead with implementing the deal.

But US President Donald Trump's executive order cracking down on refugees has caused uncertainty and slowed down the approvals process.

Mr Trump also publicly denounced the deal and labelled it "dumb" after clashing with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the issue.

Still, the Coalition was convinced Mr Trump's furious denunciations of the agreement were aimed at a domestic audience, and that he would not abandon it completely.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer again fielded questions about the deal during his daily briefing, and said the Trump administration would honour the agreement "in some way".

"We are going to continue to work through this. We are going to honour these commitments in some way, meaning we are going to vet these people in accordance with the agreement that happened," Mr Spicer said.

The White House had previously said any refugees accepted would be subjected to "extreme vetting" before being allowed into the United States.

But officials in both Australia and the US were uncertain about exactly what "extreme vetting" meant and unsure about exactly what additional security checks would be required.

US vetting process expected to be 'tough'

The Foreign Minister said both countries were still working through the details of the agreement.

"We remain in contact with the Trump administration and our embassy in Washington is also working with US officials and we expect that vetting process would be as tough as Australia's vetting process in terms of health and security checks," Ms Bishop said.

Refugee advocates said the persistent uncertainty over the deal was causing enormous anxiety on Manus Island and Nauru — and is doing further psychological damage to refugees on both islands.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten criticised the Government's handling of the deal, but today said Labor would back the Government "100 per cent" as it worked to get refugees to the US.

"I am completely supportive of the Government's efforts to see the refugee deal honoured with the United States," he said.

"I take what the Prime Minister said, that the deal will be honoured — Labor supports this full stop." </s> White House press secretary Sean Spicer points to a reporter to take a question during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. Spicer discussed the weekend's immigration turmoil and other topics.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Houston Chronicle. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will honor a U.S. agreement with Australia to accept refugees housed on islands off that country's coast although he is unhappy about the deal, the White House said on Thursday.

"The deal that was cut by the last administration is something that he's extremely, extremely upset with," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a news briefing. "He does not like it."

Spicer said that out of respect for Australia and its prime minister, Trump would allow the process to go forward under conditions set under by the deal that provide for "extreme vetting" of the refugees. </s> USA TODAY - White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer will hold the first press briefing since President Trump's executive order on refugees and immigrants sparked protests around the country.

Spicer is expected to address the controversial ban, among various other issues.

The briefing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET Monday.

9NEWS will provide live coverage, which you can watch in the player above. </s> President Donald Trump will allow the refugee deal with Australia go through, White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed, despite the fact that it was negotiated during former President Barack Obama’s administration.

“The president is unbelievably disappointed in the previous administration’s deal that was made and how poorly it was crafted,” Spicer explained to reporters at the White House Press Briefing.

Speaking to Harley-Davidson executives and union members, Trump mentioned the discussion about the deal with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

“I just said why? … Why are we doing this. What’s the purpose?” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Spicer confirmed that the refugees would be allowed into the United States, but would go through a “very very extreme vetting process” to make sure they had peaceful intentions.

Trump signaled his opposition to the deal, after reports surfaced that he had an angry phone call with Turnbull.

“Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Why? I will study this dumb deal!” </s> US President Donald Trump seems to reconsider the refugee swapping deal with Australia. The president reportedly slammed Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a phone call over the deal. Trump addressed the phone call as “the worst call by far.”

The US president compared the refugee swapping call with the conversation with various world leaders on that day and described it as the worst talk. The call was scheduled for long hours but it ended just after 25 minutes. Trump allegedly yelled at the prime minister as he believed that Turnbull expected the new US leader to follow the promise of the Obama administration. The agreement proposed America to accommodate 1,250 refugees in the nation from different detention centers across Australia.

The president during the call also added that Australia was attempting to send the “next Boston bombers” into the nation. Trump, besides calling Turnbull’s call as worst, also tweeted against the refugee swapping deal on Wednesday night. “Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!” the US president tweeted.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, on the contrary, said that the government was in a good position as far as the refugee swapping deal was concerned. “The Prime Minister has spoken to President Trump and we had agreement from President Trump that he would continue the arrangement,” he said. “It seems to me that some of the hate media journalists on the left wing debate in this country are adamant that they want to use these people as pawns.”

While the White House is emphasizing on the reconsideration of the refugee swapping agreement, the Australian authorities have a different story to tell. Moreover, US State Department and White House also seem to have contradictory views on the deal. Where White House said that Trump was still not sure about the deal, the State Department told the ABC that US will go ahead with the refugee swap with Australia.

The American State Department had a conversation with the ABC following the statement from the White House. “He is considering doing it because of the long and good relationship we have with Australia,” the White House stated while adding that Trump was still thinking on whether to move forward with the refugee swapping deal. On Wednesday, US Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the United States will undergo “extreme vetting” before allowing 1,250 refugees into the nation. However, the comments were walked back later on. </s> WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is holding the first press briefing since President Donald Trump’s executive orders restricting immigration, travel, and refugees from certain countries sparked protests in Chicago and across the country.

The press conference is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. CT.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer says the U.S. is still planning on carrying through with the refugee resettlement deal.