Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Thirty-ninth Day



Yesterday many of us listened via live stream as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit listened to oral arguments in the case of Washington et al (Minnesota) v Donald Trump (I'm not sure that's the exact name of the case).
In that case, the Trump administration is appealing a ruling by the Federal District Court in Seattle which halted the Trump administration's 'pause' on immigration from 7 majority Muslim countries and refugees from Syria.  

Here is my bullet list of the events:

Trump puts in the travel ban.  Note: Members of the administration both say it is and is not a "ban".
Chaos in the airports as people with legal rights (green card holders, for example) to be here are turned away or detained.
Washington state's Attorney General submits a lawsuit against the Trump administration because the ban is detrimental to citizens and business in the state. The state is asserting 'standing' in the case because state universities have professors and students here from one or more of the 7 countries. And the state says the ban is illegal (I believe)
The Federal Judge agrees that the travel ban should be halted until such time as the court can hear the case in full - about whether the ban is legal or not.
The Trump administration appeals that ruling.  They want the ban in place while the court is deciding whether it's legal or not.

In the course of the oral arguments to the appeals court the judges asked if either side had evidence that would be presented at the Federal Court trial that was significant.  The Washington Solicitor General argued that they did have evidence - the president's own words, along with his advisors, that this is a "Muslim Ban".  The Trump admin, while arguing that the ban was based on National Security issues, didn't have any evidence...it's just the president's right to make these rules and the courts should not interfere.

It seems obvious to me - if Washington state prevails in the Federal Court hearing about the travel ban itself, they would have proven the Executive Order was unconstitutional.  If the Trump administration wins, then no one's rights have been trampled and they can continue their search for terrorists.  I think the civil rights are more important.  
For that reason the ban should NOT be in place while it's merits are debated.

If a terrorist does get in during these days when the travel ban is not in place - Trump will milk that for all it's worth.  I believe he would allow something horrible to happen just so he could say "I told you so".  I believe that of him. He's shown himself to be petty and mostly concerned with his own ego. 

Some links - I included some sites from the 'right'. I wanted to include the WSJ, but they don't let me read their articles unless I subscribe or register or something.  That's why I included Fox, Bloomberg, Cato, and Heritage






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