Trump Travel Ban: DOJ Files Argument For Return of Executive Order

SEATTLE, WA - Department of Justice attorneys submitted their argument to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday afternoon to persuade federal judges to overturn a restraining order against President Donald Trump's executive order banning travel to the U.S. from select Muslim-majority countries.

The Department of Justice submitted the response on Monday after the court on Saturday rejected the government's request for an emergency stay of a restraining order against the ban granted on Friday by a federal judge in Seattle.

In its response, DOJ attorneys argue that Trump has the power to restrict entry to the U.S., especially because the seven countries outlined in the ban have been previously identified by Congress as places that pose a terrorism risk.

"Relying on his express statutory authority to suspend entry of any class of aliens to protect the interest, the President has directed a temporary suspension of entries through the refugee program and from countries that have a previously identified link to an increased risk of terrorist activity," the response reads. "The purpose of that temporary suspension is to permit an orderly review and revision of screening procedures to ensure that adequate standards are in place to protect against terrorist attacks."

They also argue that the states do not have a right to file a lawsuit on behalf of state residents to protect them from federal law.

The states of Washington and Minnesota filed a response earlier in the day. There is a hearing via telephone set for Tuesday at 3 p.m. in front of 9th Circuit judges between the state attorney generals and DOJ lawyers.

Monday's filing is the latest in a fight between the federal government and the states of Washington and Minnesota, whose attorneys general are suing to eliminate Trump's executive order completely.

On Friday, Seattle federal court Judge James L. Robart granted the states' request for a temporary restraining order of the travel ban. Attorneys general Lori Swanson of Minnesota and Bob Ferguson of Washington asked for the order to be put in place while they litigate a larger lawsuit to repeal the executive order. The states argue that the ban harms local economies, and is unconstitutional.

The states have the backing of prominent business and government officials. Nearly 100 tech companies - including Apple, Facebook, Netflix, and Microsoft - have filed a brief supporting the states' claims, and demonstrating how Trump's ban negatively affects their companies. A group of former government officials - former secretaries of state Madeline Albright and John Kerry, and former CIA director Leon Panetta among them - have filed similar paperwork.

Trump's executive order, signed on Jan. 27, had banned travel to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries — Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen — for three months; it also banned refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days, and banned refugees from Syria from entering the U.S. indefinitely.

In light of restraining order, travelers from those seven countries were allowed to enter the U.S., and refugees were reportedly set to begin entering the U.S. on Monday.

Gov. Jay Inslee and Ferguson appeared at Sea-Tac airport on Monday to greet a Somali man as he returned home to the Seattle area.

Image via Washington Attorney General's office