US appeals court bars call for ban to stay

Legal dispute over the President’s powers could land at the country’s highest court

AUnited States federal appeals court last night denied the Justice Department’s request for an immediate reinstatement of President Donald Trump’s ban on accepting certain travellers and all refugees.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco instead asked challengers of the ban to respond to the appeal filed by the Trump Administration hours earlier, and for the Justice Department to file a counter-response by tomorrow.

The Trump Administration declared that a federal judge in Seattle overstepped his authority by temporarily blocking the ban nationwide. Now the higher court’s denial of an immediate stay means the legal battles will continue for days at least.

Acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco had forcefully argued that the President alone has the power to decide who can enter or stay in the US, invoking the wider battle to come over illegal immigration.

Earlier yesterday the Government officially suspended the ban’s enforcement in compliance with the order of US District Judge James Robart that imposed a temporary, nationwide halt to Trump’s order barring refugees and those from seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the country.

But the President blasted out his unhappiness. “The opinion of this socalled judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” Trump tweeted. On a trip to Florida, Trump played golf, then returned to Twitter to say “many very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country” because of the judicial decision.

Trump exaggerated the impact of Robart’s order, and Democrats said the President was trying to intimidate the independent judiciary. “The President’s hostility towards the rule of law is not just embarrassing, it is dangerous,” Senator Patrick Leahy said.

The State Department said those with valid visas could enter the country. DHS said it would “resume inspection of travellers in accordance with standard policy and procedure” that existed before Trump’s more restrictive executive order.

Advocates encouraged travellers from the affected countries who qualified for entry to get on planes as soon as possible because of the unpredictable legal terrain. The first flights carrying previously barred travellers reached Logan International Airport in Boston, with more expected at US airports today.

The developments continued what has been a chaotic rollout of Trump’s order. More than a dozen legal challenges have been filed around the country, and only one judge so far has indicated that he was willing to let Trump’s order stand.

The decision of Robart, who was nominated by President George W. Bush and has been on the Bench since 2004, was the most consequential because of its national implications.

It is somewhat unusual for a district judge to issue an order that affects the entire country, but Robart said it was necessary to follow Congress’s intention that “the immigration laws . . . should be enforced vigorously and uniformly”. He was quoting from a 2015 appeals court ruling that had blocked President Barack Obama’s executive action that would have made it easier for undocumented immigrants to remain. It was never implemented because of legal challenges.

Robart granted a request from lawyers for the states of Washington and Minnesota. Officials had revealed about 60,000 — and possibly as many as 100,000 — visas already have been provisionally revoked as a result of Trump’s order.— AP, Washington Post