Thread: Breaking: Washington State Judge Halts Travel Ban Nationwide

CNN is reporting that a federal judge in Seattle has put a halt to President Trump's Executive Order on refugees nationwide. It will go to 9th Circuit next. Then to Supreme Court.

Executive Order does not apply in the United States. "We are back to where we were," according to one legal analyst.

They could uphold parts of the Executive Order, then strike down others.

Customs and Border Patrol announces they will review the order and comply.

Federal judge in Seattle puts nationwide halt to Trump’s immigration order

Originally published February 3, 2017 at 3:48 pm
Updated February 3, 2017 at 4:36 pm

“The Constitution prevailed today,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. “No one is above the law — not even the president.”

By Jim Brunner
and Jessica Lee

A federal judge in Seattle has ordered a halt to enforcement of President Trump’s controversial travel ban on citizens from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

U.S. District Judge James Robart ruled in favor Friday of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who sued to invalidate key provisions of Trump’s executive order. That order indefinitely blocks entry to the United States for Syrian refugees and temporarily suspends entry to citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries.

The temporary restraining order is granted on a nationwide basis, Robart said.

“The Constitution prevailed today,” Ferguson said. “No one is above the law — not even the President.”
Gov. Jay Inslee, writing on Twitter, called it “a tremendous victory for the state of Washington.

“No person, not even the president, is above the law,” Inslee said. “We should feel heartened by today’s victory and more resolute than ever that we are fighting on the right side of history.”

In his oral ruling, Robart said Washington had standing to bring the case forward and provided evidence that Trump’s order has immediate harm. And the lawsuit, the judge said, has substantial likelihood of success in its underlying challenge to the constitutionality of the order.

The ruling was a momentous victory for opponents of the travel ban.

“It’s a relief,” said Mark Okazaki, executive director of Neighborhood House, a longtime social-service provider for immigrants and refugees. He thanked Ferguson for bringing the lawsuit forward, saying it will ease some stress and anxiety.

Ferguson, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit Jan. 30, three days after Trump signed the executive order.

At a press conference on Monday, Susan Hutchison, chairman of the Washington State Republican Party, accused Ferguson of filing the lawsuit solely as a political ploy, to further a possible future run for governor.

“I think he knows that he’s got very thin ice he’s standing on legally,” she said. “I’m not a lawyer but I have talked to lawyers today and they have all said this is a very thin argument legally.”

Robart, on Friday, disagreed.

In a legal filing asking for the restraining order, Ferguson argued Trump’s travel ban targets Muslims, violating the constitutional rights of immigrants and their families.

“Federal courts have no more sacred role than protecting marginalized groups against irrational, discriminatory conduct,” reads the filing by Ferguson, state Solicitor General Noah Purcell and Colleen Melody, head of the attorney general’s civil-rights unit.

But in a response brief filed late Thursday, attorneys for the Trump administration said Washington state lacked standing to bring the challenge, and that the president has properly exercised his broad, border-security powers to protect Americans.

“Every President over the last thirty years has invoked this authority to suspend or impose restrictions on the entry of certain aliens or classes of aliens, in some instances including classifications based on nationality,” reads the administration brief, submitted by Chad Readler, acting assistant U.S. attorney general, and other Justice Department lawyers.

The administration brief also cited previous court rulings that say there is no constitutional right of entry to the U.S. for foreign nationals.

In a 19-page complaint, Ferguson alleged Trump’s executive order violates constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and equal protection. The state of Minnesota has joined as a plaintiff, while attorneys general in several other states have also taken legal action against the controversial ban.

Ferguson’s lawsuit includes quotes by Trump during his presidential campaign, including his original pledge for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” The lawsuit alleges are evidence that the order was “motivated by animus and a desire to harm a particular group.”

Trump and his allies have hit back against claims of anti-Muslim bias, arguing the nations subject to the ban were previously identified by the Obama administration as potential security threats.

Washington’s lawsuit has been backed by major corporations, including Seattle-based Amazon.com and Bellevue-based Expedia, which have criticized the immigration order’s impact on the state’s economy, businesses and higher-education institutions, as well as on families and residents.

At the hearing Friday, Purcell said the harm to University of Washington’s students and faculty who are stranded out of the country due to the order is “direct and immediate.”

The president’s order sparked legal chaos and a wave of protests nationwide over the weekend, with a huge crowd pouring into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport amid reports that refugees and immigrants from countries targeted by the travel ban were being detained there.

Some immigrant air travelers were flown back to their countries of origin, while others were allowed to enter the country with the help of immigration attorneys.

More than 21,000 Washington residents were born in one of the seven majority-Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya and Yemen, U.S. Census data show.

The state’s lawsuit said 7,279 noncitizen immigrants in the state are from those seven countries.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-...gration-order/

Oh God. That is just awful. So foolish, so dangerous.

Well, there's only one immediate solution and that is an immediate Executive Order banning all immigration from everywhere until the matter is settled by the United States Supreme Court, whenever that may be.

Do it tonight.

Notes from Live Interview on CNN of Washington State Attorney General, Bob Ferguson.

He said there are multiple constitutional objections, it harms his constituents,

Due process, equal protections, establishment clause, religious

Administrative Act, similar to Obama and DACA

Judge is appointee of George W. Bush,

Expedia, Amazon, and other businesses would be hurt in his state,

hopes President Trump doesn't appeal, but prepared for it,

said Executive Order put together like Keystone Cops,

even Republicans going against it,

impacts people and businesses, worked with corporate counsels for Amazon and Expedia

oral ruling, written one this weekend, state has standing,

did not specify which actions lead judge to his conclusion,

usually ruling has to be written an analyst said to Mr. Ferguson,

he says he filed two lawsuits against Obama Administration, one won, one waiting,

The ruling by Judge Hanen in Texas on the DAPA lawsuit keeps being mentioned as comparable.

9th Circuit is more liberal.

A court in Massachusetts ruled the opposite. 1st Circuit. Justice Department will bring the 21 page ruling from Massachusetts with them to Court to show they may prevail.

Circuit split.

President Trump may redraft Executive Order.

Related:
http://www.alipac.us/f9/trump-immigr...onwide-343122/

Federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocks Trump's travel ban nationwide




TED S. WARREN / AP

February 3, 2017


Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, left, is greeted by well-wishers after he spoke to reporters Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, following a hearing in federal court in Seattle. A U.S. judge on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the




Federal judge in L.A. orders temporary halt to part of Trump's travel ban
Democratic attorneys general in 4 states challenge Trump's travel ban
Muslim civil rights group challenges Trump travel ban




A U.S. judge on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries after Washington state and Minnesota urged a nationwide hold on the executive order that has launched legal battles across the country.


U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled that the states had standing to challenge Trump's order, which government lawyers disputed, and said they showed their case was likely to succeed.


"The state has met its burden in demonstrating immediate and irreparable injury," Robart said.


Trump's order last week sparked protests nationwide and confusion at airports as some travelers were detained. The White House has argued that it will make the country safer.


Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and suspends the U.S. refugee program.


State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said this week that the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the suit two days later.


After the ruling, Ferguson said people from the affected countries can now apply for entry to the U.S.


"Judge Robart's decision, effective immediately ... puts a halt to President Trump's unconstitutional and unlawful executive order," Ferguson said. "The law is a powerful thing — it has the ability to hold everybody accountable to it, and that includes the president of the United States."


Gillian M. Christensen, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.


Federal attorneys had argued that Congress gave the president authority to make decisions on national security and immigrant entry.


The two states won a temporary restraining order while the court considers the lawsuit, which aims to permanently block Trump's order. Court challenges have been filed nationwide from states and advocacy groups.


Up to 60,000 foreigners from the seven majority-Muslim countries had their visas canceled because of the executive order, the State Department said Friday.


That figure contradicts a statement from a Justice Department lawyer on the same day during a court hearing in Virginia about the ban. The lawyer in that case said about 100,000 visas had been revoked.


The State Department clarified that the higher figure includes diplomatic and other visas that were actually exempted from the travel ban, as well as expired visas.


Washington and Minnesota's lawsuit says Trump campaigned on a promise to ban Muslims from coming to the U.S. and kept up that rhetoric while defending the travel ban. Lawyers pointed to dozens of speeches and statements Trump has made.


"The executive order effectively mandates that the states engage in discrimination based on national origin and/or religion, thereby rescinding the states' historic protection of civil rights and religious freedom," the complaint says.


Ferguson said the order is harming Washington residents, businesses and its education system. It will reduce tax revenue and impose significant costs on state agencies, as well as make it impossible for some state employees and students to travel, he said.


Washington-based businesses Amazon, Expedia and Microsoft support the state's efforts to stop the order. They say it's hurting their operations, too.


Lawyers for Washington state said another hearing was expected in the next few weeks.


Associated Press

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#sectio.../p2p-92499138/

Per Michael Breen, International Refugee Assistance - Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) are given to foreign nationals who are said to have helped us (and families) such as Iraqi translators, others. 15,000 Iraqis said to have assisted the United States.

Tucker Carlson - Why does the United States have a moral obligation to bring people from Somalia?

Why should we invite people to come here to live off of taxpayers? Will it make us feel less guilty?

How many should we let in? 100,00 -200,000 per year

Michael Breen says "yes." He also thinks it will help with dealing with ISIS.

Alan Dershowitz asks Mr. Ferguson about family from Yemen that has no ties to the United States. He is not certain.

Would you bring a contempt order against the President of the United States. Bob Ferguson would do that.

Sections 3 and 5 of the Executive Order.

CNN now has the 7 pages of the Judge's ruling, The Temporary Restraining Order.

90 day suspension eliminated, 120 day

Syrian refugees unconstitutional,

Judge has not ruled on merits.

Reporter said CBP told airlines that they should go back to regular practice, business as usual.

CBP said that visas that were revoked will be reinstated

Commentator says this is against Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon. They believe they have a small window to get some things done before lower tier filled in.

Additional arguments before court on Monday.

Per Alan Dershowitz, The President may say I am going to follow the Massachusetts judge, not the Washington judge.

Massachusetts said you have no property right to visa.

3 judges from 26 judges on the 9th circuit court. Russian Roulette.