Complete Story
03/30/2017
Federal Judge Extends Block on Travel Ban
The Justice Department continues to disagree with the judge's ruling
A federal judge in Hawaii yesterday extended an order blocking the federal government from implementing a revised travel ban.
The revised order, which was due to take effect on March 16, would have banned travelers from six mostly-Muslim nations from entering the U.S. for 90 days and suspended all refugee admissions for 120 days.
In a March 29 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson converted a temporary restraining order he had previously issued into a preliminary injunction. Watson noted the government’s request that he ignore statements President Trump made as a candidate that he would seek to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. in order to combat the threat of terrorism. Watson said Trump’s statements are “full of religious animus, invective, and obvious pretext” and cannot be ignored.
“The court will not crawl into a corner, pull the shutters closed and pretend it has not seen what it has,” Watson said.
The Justice Department said it “strongly disagrees” with the federal court’s ruling. “The president’s executive order falls squarely within his lawful authority in seeking to protect our nation’s security and the department will continue to defend this Executive Order in the courts,” an agency spokesperson told POLITICO.
It’s expected the government will appeal the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The administration has already appealed a narrower ruling by a federal judge in Maryland that blocked a visa-ban provision of Trump’s revised order at the request of refugee aid groups among others. That appeal is pending in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, VA.
If allowed to take effect, the travel ban and resulting perceptions of the U.S. as an unwelcoming destination could cost the country $18 billion in lost tourism dollars, according to projections cited by USA Today.
While it defends the travel ban, the Trump administration took steps last week to require more security checks before issuing visas to millions of tourists and business travelers seeking to enter the U.S. The administration has instructed all American embassies to increase scrutiny of visa applicants, including potentially conducting checks of applicants’ social media history.
The new rules do not apply to citizens of 38 countries – including most of Europe – who can more readily enter the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program.
This article was provided to OSAE by The Power of A.
