Trump loses appeal to unblock Muslim travel ban

An appeal application filed by the US justice department seeking to unblock a travel ban on seven mainly Muslim countries has been denied by a US Court of Appeal.

The emergency appeal, filed by the Justice Department late Saturday, asserts Trump’s constitutional authority to order a temporary ban on immigration and says the judge’s Friday ruling “second-guesses the president’s national security judgment.”

The department’s request to reinstate the ban, part of the appeal, was rejected by the court, which set Sunday and Monday for the two sides to submit legal arguments.

Trump’s immigration travel ban was blocked by US District Judge James Robart in Seattle on Friday saying the temporary restraining order will remain valid nationwide pending a full review of a complaint by Washington attorney general Bob Ferguson.

The blocking of the travel ban saw the US president unleashing of fiery statements towards the judge who stopped implementation of the order.

Speaking in Florida, Trump said he was sure that the department would win the appeal filed against US District Judge James Robart’s order in Seattle late on Saturday.

“We’ll win. For the safety of the country, we’ll win,” he told reporters at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

Read also: Halting of Trump’s Muslim travel ban forces resumption of US-bound flights

Speaking after blocking the executive order, Ferguson said; “The constitution prevailed today,” Ferguson said, describing the judge’s decision as historic. “No one is above the law – not even the president.

“I said from the beginning it is not the loudest voice that prevails in a courtroom, it’s the constitution,” he added, pointing out that Robart was appointed by Republican president George W Bush.

Trump’s immigration ban has sparked wide protests in and outside America with the latest reaction coming from the Iran government which has banned the US wrestling team from participating in the Freestyle World Cup in Tehran later this month.

 

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