Poll: Courts are right in blocking US travel ban

WASHINGTON: Most Americans say federal courts are acting properly in blocking President Donald Trump’s travel ban, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Two versions of the travel ban targeting Muslimmajority countries have been put on hold by federal courts. Trump says the ban is necessary to keep would-be terrorists from traveling to the US. Opponents, including some state officials, argue that it is intended to keep Muslims out.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans say the courts have acted correctly by blocking the travel ban from taking effect, while 39 percent say the judges are wrongly interfering. The poll shows a sharp partisan divide: 82 percent of Democrats say the courts acted rightly, while 73 percent of Republicans say they are wrongly interfering. Among independents, 56 percent agree with the courts.

“From the beginning President Trump said, even before the election, that he intended to ban Muslims, not that he intended to ban terrorists but Muslims,” said Nick Hardy, 54, an independent voter who said he leans Democratic. “That’s just not right.”

Trump initially signed an executive order in late January that banned people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya from traveling to the US. That included legal permanent residents. The order also blocked all refugees from being resettled in the US. The order caused chaos and confusion at airports around the world. Some travelers arriving in the US were detained before being sent home, and people overseas were blocked from boarding US-bound flights.

The original order was blocked in federal court, and an appeals court later upheld that ruling. A second order that dropped Iraq from the list of affected countries also has been blocked. It also exempted legal US residents from the ban.

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to immediately reinstate the updated ban, saying the US will be safer if it is in place.

The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals this month refused to reinstate the executive order, and a three-judge panel said the administration failed to show that blocking citizens from the six nations was needed to protect the US The court also found that the president’s order violated an immigration law prohibiting discrimination based on nationality.