US Appeals Court Refuses to Reinstate Trump Travel Ban

Trump: If Something Bad Happens, Blame Court System

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has today ruled against a push by the Trump Administration to reverse rulings by lower courts forbidding the enforcement of President Trump’s travel ban executive order, meaning the order cannot be enforced at least for now, pending an expected flurry of future litigation.

This means everyone who could’ve legally traveled to the United States prior to Trump signing the executive order can enter for now, which has led to a rush of permanent residents and other legal visa holders trying to get back to the United States before another court ruling puts the ban back into place.

This is a struggle for many, as some of those who were in-flight when the original ban was signed had their paperwork seized by officials when they landed, and are struggling to get duplicate paperwork. Likewsie, some airlines are reportedly unclear on where the ban legally stands, and many immigration lawyers are making calls trying to get people onto planes.

President Trump was livid at the inability to keep the travel ban in place, railing at the “so-called judge” in Washington who initially blocked enforcement of his ban, and declaring that if anything bad happens, Americans should blame that judge as well as the overall court system.

The Justice Department even went so far as arguing to the Appeals Court that it was “improper” for the lower court to engage in any “second-guessing” of a president, saying that constitutional separation of powers entitled Trump to make such wholesale bans without having to worry about courts questioning him.

But while legal experts say it is unusual for a district judge to make a ruling with such nationwide implications, courts seem to be very consistently rejecting the Trump ban on several fronts, throwing the legal viability of the ban in the long run into question.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.