What Could Happen Tuesday With President Trump’s Immigration Ban

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Publish Date:
February 7, 2017
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Newsweek
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Summary

An appeals court in California could decide as soon as Tuesday whether to reinstate President Donald Trump’s travel ban on refugees and certain immigrants entering the United States.

Without offering advance notice to most of the parties involved, Trump on January 27 signed an executive order banning Syrian refugees and immigrants living in seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. A week later, acting on a request from Washington state and Minnesota, U.S. District Judge James Robart in the Western District of Washington temporarily halted the order nationwide.

The 9th Circuit, viewed as one of the more liberal courts in the country, has various options to pursue. Jayashri Srikantiah, professor of law and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, says the appeals court could affirm Robart’s ruling, reverse his halt or hold off on issuing a decision until there is an appeal to the preliminary injunction, which is expected in the next few weeks. “It’s so speculative at this point. It’s hard to know because this case is so obviously high-profile and has such a broad impact on so many people,” Srikantiah tells Newsweek. “Hypothetically if it went to the Supreme Court, I think the Supreme Court would have the same options that the appeals court has.”

Srikantiah says the situation is atypical because the federal government has appealed a temporary restraining order before the District Court has had a chance to resolve the preliminary injunction, which is the usual business of the court. She adds, “It’s anybody’s guess what the court is going to do.”

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