U.S. District Judge James Robart granted a request by Washington’s state attorney-general to stop implementation of Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Trump responded by blasting the ‘So-Called Judge’ Who Lifted Travel Ban.

Some legal experts condemned the attack on Judge Robart. “For a sitting president to direct a petty personal attack at a (federal) judge simply because the judge rules against him in pending litigation is unworthy of the office,” said University of Pennsylvania law professor Tobias B. Wolff. “It is nothing less than an attack on the judiciary and the rule of law.”

Airlines Resume Flying Passengers

welcome-home

The Wall Street Journal reports Airlines Resume Flying Passengers Blocked Under Travel Ban to U.S.

Airlines in Europe and the Middle East responded to the suspension of tightened U.S. immigration rules by again allowing passengers from countries that had been blocked to fly to the U.S., following chaos at airports and protests across the country.

Mr. Trump’s 90-day ban on citizens of Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Yemen spurred travel havoc as airlines globally were caught by surprise and had to move quickly to block passengers. Airlines also pulled some employees from the affected countries from serving on U.S.-bound flights.

Friday’s ruling applied nationwide to tens of thousands of people holding visas to travel to the U.S.

Homeland Security Stops Enforcing Ban

The Department of Homeland Security had no choice other than Stop Enforcement of the Ban but Trump vowed to fight on.

U.S. District Judge James Robart of Seattle, in his seven-page ruling, wrote late Friday that he granted the restraining order, in part, because the plaintiffs were likely to win on their constitutional claims. Not halting the president’s executive order immediately would cause the plaintiffs “irreparable injury,” the judge wrote.

While the Trump administration seeks to overturn Judge Robart’s order, the Departments of State and Homeland Security had no choice but to begin complying with it. If the administration’s appeal is successful, however, the agencies could be forced to change direction yet again.

A number of companies have been organizing a letter to Mr. Trump to protest the action, and to offer their help in formulating an alternative policy. At a meeting Friday of the president’s business-advisory council, some executives said they aired their concerns about the order.

On Saturday, a State Department official said the agency stopped revoking visas and said people with visas that were “not physically canceled” could travel if the visa was otherwise valid. It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the 60,000 visas revoked earlier are affected under the new policy.

My Take

A 90-day ban while the state department sorts it out is not a “minor” inconvenience.

Roughly 60,000 valid visa-holders were denied due process, suddenly, and without cause.

Ann Coulter attacked Robart because he previously used the phase “black lives matter”. So what?

People bring up smokescreens when they have nothing pertinent to say.
What do past statements have to do with the issue at hand? In this case, nothing.

I applaud the ruling by Robart.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock