Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump's Travel Ban

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump's Travel Ban

A federal appeals court in San Francisco unanimously voted on Thursday not to reinstate U.S. President Donald J. Trump's ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations. The court sided with earlier rulings issued in Washington and Minnesota on nearly all matters, leaving the government to appeal the ruling to a larger panel in the same circuit or take the case to the Supreme Court (AP) in order to reinstate the ban. The ruling said the administration showed "no evidence" (NYT) that immigrants from the countries included in the ban had committed acts of terror in the United States. The three judges, which included appointees (WaPo) from former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter, affirmed their right to serve as a check on executive power and said any suggestion that they can not do so "runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy."

ANALYSIS

"The Ninth Circuit emphasized that the due process rights covers all persons in the United States, including aliens. It thus rejected the government’s fall-back suggestion that the EO [Executive Order] be narrowed to exclude from its coverage legal permanent residents and 'previously admitted aliens who are temporarily abroad or wish to travel and return to the United States in the future.' As the Ninth Circuit noted, unlawfully present aliens, non-immigrant visa holders who have temporarily departed, and U.S. citizens and lawfully present aliens that seek to bring in spouses or family members all have at least some due process rights," Jennifer Daskal writes for the Just Security blog.

"A slim majority (53 percent) of the population opposes the Trump travel ban, including a whopping 88 percent of self-identified Democrats. While opponents are well organized and highly visible—showing up in droves at airports around the country to protest the order—this population is hardly representative. In fact, 88 percent of Republicans favor the ban, with a solid majority (58 percent) reporting that they would like to see the ban expanded. Just twelve percent of Republican oppose the travel ban—a fact that might help to explain why so many Republican lawmakers have stayed mum on the President's actions," Elizabeth McElvein writes for the Lawfare blog.

"The liberals and never-Trump conservatives who’ve spent months predicting the arrival of American fascism are suddenly breast-beating about U.S. checks and balances. Apparently they lack confidence in American institutions unless they’re running them. But while we opposed Mr. Trump’s order on policy grounds, there is reason to worry now about judicial overreach," the Wall Street Journal editorial board writes.