Trump ban re-instatement bogged down by federal court

Protesters in Philadelphia rally against U.S President Donald Trump's ban on immigrants from seven Muslim countries. REUTERS, Tom Mihalek

The US federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's request to reinstate a travel ban blocked by a federal judge on Friday. The late night ruling means the travel ban will remain suspended until the full case has been heard. The court gave the White House and the states challenging it a deadline of Monday to present more arguments.

Two states argued that the travel ban, affecting people from seven mainly-Muslim countries, was unconstitutional. In its appeal, the Justice Department said Judge James Robart had overreached by "second guessing" the president on a national security matter. It also argued that only the president could decide who can enter or stay in the US.
In Friday's case, the Justice Department had argued that states did not have the authority to challenge a presidential executive order. Lawyers for the states of Washington and Minnesota had argued that the ban was unconstitutional because it denied people with valid entry documents the right to travel without due process.
It also violated freedom of religion rights by appearing to target Muslims, they said.

What happens now?

The next step is for briefs to be filed by both sides for a formal review of Judge Robart's suspension on Monday. The Justice Department could have appealed directly to the Supreme Court on an emergency basis, but it chose not to since the appeal court is moving fairly quickly. If the appeal court decides the stay is valid - perhaps as early as next week - then a Supreme Court appeal is almost certain.
In the meantime, everything is on hold. US immigration processes continue as they did before Mr Trump issued his executive order.  If it looks like this is bogging down, the president might eventually decide to modify the order rather than try to defend its legality. That's probably the most prudent course, but he's a stubborn man.

Iraq, one of the countries named in the ban, has praised the revocation of the travel ban as a "move in the right direction", Reuters reported. Iran has also responded to Judge Robart's ruling by saying it would allow a US wrestling team to compete in a World Cup event it is hosting later this month.  The US wrestlers were initially denied visas after Iran said it would ban Americans in retaliation for Mr Trump's order.

However Mr Trump has called Judge Robart's ruling "ridiculous", described him as a "so-called judge" and vowed to restore the ban. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell told CNN it was "best to avoid criticizing judges individually".
Judge Robart has served on the federal bench since 2004 after nomination by President George W Bush.
Friday's ruling has also seen visa holders from the affected nations scramble to get flights to the US, fearing they have a slim window to enter. The State Department has been reversing visa cancellations and US homeland security employees have been told by their department to comply with the ruling. Customs officials told airlines that they could resume boarding banned travellers.  Qatar Airways, Air France, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa and others said they would do so.


The ban caused confusion at US and foreign airports when it came into force.
It envisages a 90-day visa suspension for anyone arriving from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Oddly, and conspicuously, it does not include Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Afghanistan, sparking speculation as to why. Was Mr Trump taking potential diplomatic fallout into account, or did he fail to include those nations because of his own business ties to them?
The only foreign terrorist attacks on America, namely, the 9/11 attacks, were by 18 Saudi Arabians ( including their leader Osama bin-Laden) and one Egyptian. Other terrorist attacks have come from home grown terrorists, people born in America.

The directive also suspends the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, and places an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. The ban on Syria suggests Trump's support of Putin who has now moved the big guns into Syria and is literally blasting it into submission and levelling the last standing humans, children included.
The ban has led to protests about the discrimination to race and religion in US cities and around the world.