Court Of Appeals Unanimously Rejects Trump’s Travel Ban: Full Ruling
from Zero Hedge:
“We hold that the government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay.”
In a decision that will hardly come as a surprise, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously (including one GOP appointee) ruled for the U.S. to remain open to refugees and visa holders from seven Muslim-majority countries while the Trump administration fights to reinstate a travel ban in the name of national security.
The San Francisco-based appeals court on Thursday denied the government’s request to close the doors after days of public debate over President Donald Trump’s attacks on the judicial system and a rush of fearful immigrants. The ruling increases the likelihood that the administration will ask the Supreme Court to step into a case that’s the biggest test of Trump’s executive power yet.
The government had made a request to reinstate the measure on an emergency basis, which the judges considered to be unwarranted.
“We hold that the government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay.”
The three-judge panel hearing the case included Judges William C. Canby Jr., a Jimmy Carter appointee; Richard R. Clifton, a George W. Bush appointee; and Michelle T. Friedland, a Barack Obama appointee.
“Rather than present evidence to explain the need for the Executive Order, the Government has taken the position that we must not review its decision at all. We disagree,” they wrote.
“In short, although courts owe considerable deference to the President’s policy determinations with respect to immigration and national security, it is beyond question that the federal judiciary retains the authority to adjudicate constitutional challenges to executive action.”
Trump made a brief remark to reporters in the West Wing, calling the ruling “a political decision” and saying national security is at stake, according to NBC News. The appeals court refused to reinstate Trump’s order after a Seattle judge halted enforcement while courts decide whether it’s constitutional. “The courts seem to be so political,” Trump said in a speech on Wednesday. “It’s so sad.”
The president’s action initially denied entry to an Iraqi who helped U.S. military, professors at University of Massachusetts and a student seeking to bring her daughter for medical treatment. The ban set off angry protests nationwide and attracted a flurry of lawsuits and adverse rulings. None was more sweeping than that of U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle. Washington and Minnesota won the order temporarily blocking the ban nationwide after arguing it hurt their residents and employers including Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc. and the Mayo Clinic.
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The administration can now ask the Supreme Court to immediately intervene, which most legal experts think is likely, or wait until a ruling on the preliminary injunction order. The high court is currently shorthanded with eight justices. If there is a split decision, the lower court’s ruling would be upheld.
As The Hill reports, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) blasted the court Thursday night, saying Trump’s order is “plainly legal under the Constitution and our immigration laws” and warning that “courts ought not second-guess sensitive national-security decisions of the president.”
“This misguided ruling is from the Ninth Circuit, the most notoriously left-wing court in America and the most reversed court at the Supreme Court. I’m confident the administration’s position will ultimately prevail.”
Critics of the travel ban came out quickly to cheer the decision: “President Trump ought to see the handwriting on the wall that his executive order is unconstitutional. He should abandon this proposal, roll up his sleeves and come up with a real, bipartisan plan to keep us safe,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.
Bernie Sanders added that the court ruling could “teach President Trump a lesson.”
“Hopefully, the unanimous court ruling against President Trump’s immigration ban will restore some of the damage he has done to our country’s reputation around the world,” the former Democratic presidential candidate said in a statement minutes after the ruling came down.
Then there was a tweet from the Washington Attorney General who started all of this:
