Travel ban suffers major setback
30 DEFEAT Judges’ panel at appeals court refuses to reinstate Trump’s curbs on entry of people from seven countries
WASHINGTON: In a major setback to the Donald Trump administration, an appeals court on Thursday rejected its plea to overturn a lower court’s stay on the president’s executive order barring visa-holders from seven Muslimmajority nations from entering the United States.
In a 29-page order, the threejudge panel of the ninth circuit court of appeals ruled unanimously that the government had not been able to establish the merits of the appeal or shown how the refusal to remove the stay could cause irreparable damage.
Trump’s first response came in a tweet, in all-caps: “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”. He followed that up by telling reporters the ruling was political and later called it disgraceful.
The justice department, which is litigating the case for the federal government, said in a statement it was “reviewing the decision and considering its options”.
The administration could take the appeal to a larger bench of the ninth circuit, but that may lead to a similar result as it is considered to be the most liberal of the appellate courts in the country, according to legal experts. The administration could, alternatively, takes its appeal straight to the Supreme Court, which at this time is one short of its sanctioned strength of nine and is tilting left under the weight of four liberal justices, against three conservatives and one swing.
Another option, suggested by some experts, was for the president to swallow his pride, tear up this executive order, write a fresh one, fixing problems pointed out by the district court that stayed the order first and the appeals court that upheld it. Trump issued an executive order on January 24, banning visa-holders from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Libya from entering the US for 90 days; and all refugees for 120 days — indefinitely for Syrians.
The suspension was meant to give the administration time to put in place “extreme vetting” procedures, which Trump had promised as a candidate, to prevent “bad dudes” from entering the country with the intention of carrying out terrorist attacks. The order went into effect immediately, without advance notice or warning, leading to many visaholders from these countries being detained at US airports on arrival or prevented from boarding US-bound flights at airports outside.
Trump spoke with
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen over the phone, breaking four decades of protocol. The move infuriated China, which considers the self-ruled island its own, and complicated US relations with Beijing. China lodged a protest, blaming Taiwan
for the move
Trump said the US did not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of one China
In a veiled warning to Trump, China's ambassador to the US said Beijing will never bargain with Washington over issues involving its national sovereignty or territorial integrity The policy is the recognition in the US of the long-held position in Beijing that there is only one China, and Taiwan is part of that. The US maintains unofficial contact with Taiwan, and sells arms to the island
Secretary of state Rex Tillerson said China should be denied access to islands it has built in the South China Sea
China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi told Michael Flynn, National Security Advisor, that China hoped it could work with the US to manage and control disputes and sensitive problems