WASHINGTON: A US appeal court early on Sunday (Feb 5) denied an emergency appeal from the US Department of Justice to restore an immigration order from President Donald Trump barring citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries and temporarily banning refugees.
"Appellants' request for an immediate administrative stay pending full consideration of the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal is denied," the ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.
Judge William Canby, Jr. in Phoenix and Judge Michelle Friedland in San Francisco did not give a reason for their denial in a two-paragraph ruling.
However, they told the states of Washington and Minnesota, which had filed the original suit against Trump's travel ban, to provide documents detailing their opposition to the government's appeal by 11:59 pm Sunday (0759 GMT Monday).
The Department of Justice was given a deadline of 3 pm Monday to supply more documents supporting its position.
The Department filed the appeal a day after a federal judge in Seattle ordered Trump's travel ban to be lifted. The president's Jan 27 order had barred admission of citizens from the seven nations for 90 days.
For now, the travel ban suspension remains in place. Both the State and Homeland Security Departments said Saturday they were resuming normal practices concerning travellers from the affected countries.
The government's appeal says the decision by judge James Robart in Washington poses an immediate harm to the public, thwarts enforcement of an executive order and "second-guesses the president's national security judgment about the quantum of risk posed by the admission of certain classes of (non-citizens) and the best means of minimizing that risk".
Trump denounced the "so-called" judge in a series of tweets on Saturday and told reporters: "We'll win. For the safety of the country, we'll win."
LEGAL ARGUMENTS
In his ruling in Washington state on Friday, Judge Robart questioned the use of the Sep 11, 2001, attacks on the United States as a justification for the ban, saying no attacks had been carried out on US soil by individuals from the seven affected countries since then.
For Trump's order to be constitutional, Robart said, it had to be "based on fact, as opposed to fiction".
The 9/11 attacks were carried out by hijackers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon, whose nationals were not affected by the order.
The Justice Department appeal criticised Robart's legal reasoning, saying it violated the separation of powers and stepped on the president's authority as commander-in-chief.
The appeal said the state of Washington lacked standing to challenge the order and denied that the order "favours Christians at the expense of Muslims."
The US State Department and Department of Homeland Security said they were complying with Robart's order and many visitors are expected to start arriving on Sunday, while the government said it expects to begin admitting refugees again on Monday.
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