Appeals Court Denies DoJ Request to Reinstate Visa Ban

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a request by the Department of Justice to immediately reinstate the president’s executive order banning visas for residents from seven Muslim countries.

The ruling came early Sunday morning as the Justice Department sought an emergency ruling that would have lifted the stay granted by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart, who said the petition challenging the visa brought by the states of Washington and Minnesota had a good chance of succeeding on its merits.

The appeals court, one of the most liberal appellate courts in the country, declined to issue an emergency stay of Robart’s decision, but ordered both sides to submit motions.

Washington Post:

Lawyers for the Justice Department told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that the states of Washington and Minnesota should not have been allowed to challenge the ban and that a judge was wrong to stop Trump’s executive order, issued just more than a week ago.

“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.

Two judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — William C. Canby Jr., who was appointed by Jimmy Carter, and Michelle Taryn Friedland, who was appointed by Barack Obama — denied the request.

The administration is fighting a Seattle federal judge’s decision from Friday night that imposed a temporary, nationwide halt to Trump’s order barring refugees and those from seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the country.

Laura Ingraham questions the Ninth Circuit’s track record as well as the legal underpinnings of Robart’s decision:

FACT: 9th Cir is the most reversed fed appellate court in America.

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) February 5, 2017

The Judge Robart Order on travel ban offers ZERO reasoning as to why petitioner will succeed on the merits. https://t.co/ax2Tn72VM6

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) February 5, 2017

Indeed, Robart neglected to bring up the national security angle to the order — not surprising given the clear constitutional responsibility for keeping Americans safe given to the president.

But “second guessing” the president is what liberal courts love to do — at least when that president is a conservative or a Republican.

The DoJ case faces an uncertain future. If the government loses at the appellate level, it is a certainty they will take the case to the Supreme Court. Hopefully, by the time that happens, the president’s choice to fill the 9th and final seat on the high court will have been confirmed and Justice Gorsuch can cast the deciding vote in favor of the president’s visa ban.