Court: Trump out of bounds on travel ban

HONOLULU — A federal appeals court panel has ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump once again exceeded the scope of his authority with his latest travel ban, but the judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put their decision on hold pending review by the U.S. Supreme Court, meaning the ban involving six majority Muslim countries will remain in effect.

The ruling released late Friday says Trump’s proclamation makes no finding whatsoever that simply being from one of the countries cited in the ban makes someone a security risk.

Hawaii, which is suing to stop the ban, has argued that it will be harmful because families will be separated and university recruitment will be hampered.

This month, the Supreme Court lifted temporary lower-court orders that had prevented the latest ban from taking effect.

The status quo was maintained when the 9th Circuit stayed its decision, said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. The ruling was unusual, but it’s a unique case, he said, noting the Supreme Court has not set argument dates because it has not yet decided to grant an appeal.

“Given the shockingly rapid volley of executive actions and court decisions, this is surely just the latest in a long series of battles to come.” Mary Fan, a University of Washington law school professor, said about immigration-ban litigation.

The judges focused on whether Trump had made a required finding that the entry of people affected by the ban would be detrimental to U.S. interests.

Under U.S. immigration law, such a determination must be made before barring 150 million potential travellers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, they said.

U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam said the agency is pleased that the Supreme Court has already allowed the government to implement the proclamation and keep Americans safe while the matter is litigated.