Trumps Seeks Supreme Court Help Get Muslim Ban Order Restored

WASHINGTON, June 2 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 02nd Jun, 2017 ) : The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to help enforce ban on entry of citizens to the United States from six Muslim majority countries, weeks after a US Court of Appeals withheld freeze on the revised executive order by President Trump.

It may take months for the nine-member Supreme Court to decide the case that involves the process of briefing and arguing, at a time when the judges are scheduled to end their work at the end of the month.

Through his order, President Trump is seeking temporary ban for 90 days to give the government the time to review the vetting procedures as part of efforts to boost national security. The Trump administration had gone into an appeal after a US District Judge in state of Maryland issued the nationwide injunction that the ban was in conflict with the Constitution by discriminating against Muslims.

The 10-3 decision by the appeal court had observed that the president did not hold an absolute power to deny entry into the United States and that the travel ban "in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination".

A US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in the city of San Francisco is also hearing an appeal against the Hawaii Federal judge ruling, which also stayed the implementation of the order.

The government's filing late Thursday seeks to overturn the Appeal Court ruling as well as ruling by the federal judge in Hawaii court.

Another appeal court last month heard the government's argument but has not issued any ruling as yet. The Justice Department, which filed the appeal to vacate the stay on the banning order, said in its filing that the 4th Circuit Appeal Court which refused to unfreeze the ban last month should have taken into merit the executive order itself and not what President Trump had said during his election campaign.

It may be recalled that President Trump during the campaign had proposed a complete ban on Muslims from around the world to enter the United States, a suggestion that drew widespread criticism from world leaders and rights activists, who termed it as discriminatory towards Muslims.

President Trump issued his first order soon after taking oath of the office that barred the entry of Muslims from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya, in addition to a temporary halt to refugee arrivals.

After being challenged and subsequently stayed by several courts, Trump issued a revised order, removing Iraq from the list and deleted a reference to religion to be replaced by national security rationales for the policy.