Appeals Court Rejects Donald Trump's Request to Restore Travel Ban

A federal appeals court has denied the Department of Justice's request to restore Trump's travel ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-dominated countries.

February 5, 2017

A federal appeals court has rejected the Department of Justice’s request to immediately restore Donald Trump's controversial travel ban.

According to the New York Times, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco denied the request early Sunday, shortly after the DOJ filed an emergency motion to stay a federal judge's nationwide block of the president’s executive order. This means travelers from the seven Muslim-majority countries listed in the order can enter the United States. For now.

The court has asked the states of Washington and Minnesota (challengers of the ban) to provide papers detailing their opposition. The Justice Department is expected to file a counter response by Monday.

Lawyers from the DOJ have argued states should have not challenged the ban, as Trump has the legal authority to implement it.

“Judicial second-guessing of the President’s determination that a temporary suspension of entry of certain classes of aliens was necessary at this time to protect national security would constitute an impermissible intrusion on the political branches’ plenary constitutional authority over foreign affairs, national security, and immigration,” Acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in a brief.

The president signed the travel ban, which has been widely referred to as a “Muslim ban,” last month. It temporarily prohibited entry to the U.S. from nationals of Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Syrian, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen—all of which are predominately Muslim. Since the order was signed, protests have launched across the country, with many criticizing the ban for religious discrimination.