In another stinging blow to President Donald Trump, a federal appeals court has unanimously rejected a plea to reinstate his temporary immigration ban against citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries that was stayed nationwide by a Seattle court a week ago.
A defiant Trump promptly slammed the decision of the 9th Circuit US Appeals Court, calling it a “political decision” and tweeting: “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”
In their 29-page opinion, three judges of the San Francisco-based court rejected all the arguments advanced by the Trump administration in support of restoration of the President’s controversial executive order, targeting citizens of Iran, Iraq, libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
“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 judges wrote.
They also disagreed with the argument that the President has the constitutional power to restrict entry to the United States and that the courts cannot second-guess his determination that such a step was needed to prevent terrorism.
Reacting to the court decision, Trump told reporters soon after the ruling: “It’s a political decision, and we’re going to see them in court. This is just a decision that came down, but we’re going to win the case.”
“We have a situation where the security of our country is at stake, and it’s a very, very serious situation,” he said. “We’re going to see them in court and I look forward to doing it.”
Even as the Justice Department was considering the proposed course of action, experts felt Trump’s options were rather limited. He could seek hearing by a larger bench of the same 9th Circuit court or approach the US Supreme Court straightaway.
Experts believe both options are fraught with uncertainties. While the 9th Circuit is widely regarded as a liberals-dominated court, the Supreme Court as of now is divided 4-4 in terms of its composition with judges of conservative and liberal leanings. It may take a couple of months before Trump’s nominee Neil Gorsuch takes his place as the ninth judge, presuming he is able to clear a tough Senate confirmation process.
In the circumstances, a possible 4-4 Supreme Court verdict on Trump’s executive order will in effect mean confirmation of the stay imposed by the Seattle federal court.
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has expressed the view that Trump will have to “swallow his pride” and come up with a new executive order instead of continuing to fight the stay of his January 27 order.
“If [Trump] wants to keep the border, he needs a new order. He cannot accept a stay which may last for months and keeps the border open…He has to come up with something new, he has to swallow his pride and do it,” Dershowitz told MSNBC, adding the President needs to go back to the drawing board.