WASHINGTON: President Trump blasted a ruling by another court against his travel ban order, as the administration now looks to the Supreme Court to get the relief for the move that has been criticized by activist groups as discriminatory towards Muslims.
“Well, as predicted, the 9th Circuit did it again – Ruled against the TRAVEL BAN at such a dangerous time in the history of our country,” he wrote online as reported by a media report.
On Monday, the 9th Circuit unanimously turned down the request by the White House to lift an injunction that has blocked key parts of President Trump’s revised executive orders that seeks temporarily ban on travel of citizens from six Muslim majority countries.
This month, the Trump administration approached the Supreme Court to allow enforce the ban, after facing opposition from almost all the courts that were hearing the case. The administration south the Supreme Court intervention after a US District Judge in state of Maryland issued the nationwide injunction that the ban was in conflict with the Constitution by discriminating against Muslims.
An earlier decision by an appeal court had observed that the president did not hold an absolute power to deny entry into the United States and that the travel ban ‘in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination.’
A US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in the city of San Francisco is also hearing an appeal against the Hawaii federal judge ruling, which also stayed the implementation of the order.
It may take months for the 9-member Supreme Court to decide the case that involves the process of briefing and arguing, at a time when the judges are scheduled to end their work at the end of the month. Through his order, President Trump is seeking temporary ban for 90 days to give the government the time to review the vetting procedures as part of efforts to boost national security.
In the Supreme Court, the government is seeking to overturn the Appeal Court ruling as well as ruling by the federal judge in Hawaii court. Another appeal court last month heard the government’s argument but has not issued any ruling as yet.
It may be recalled that President Trump during the campaign had proposed a complete ban on Muslims from around the world to enter the United States, a suggestion that drew widespread criticism from world leaders and rights activists, who termed it as discriminatory towards Muslims.
President Trump issued his first order soon after taking oath of the office that barred the entry of Muslims from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya, in addition to a temporary halt to refugee arrivals.
After being challenged and subsequently stayed by several courts, Trump issued a revised order, removing Iraq from the list and deleted a reference to religion to be replaced by national security rationales for the policy.
