Live: Appeals court weighs Seattle judge’s hold on Trump ‘Muslim ban’

It’s been four days since a federal judge in Seattle paused an executive order from President Trump meant to impose wide-ranging immigration restrictions on Muslims and Arabs.

Now, that decision from U.S. District Judge James Robart will face its first real test in a hearing before a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based court will consider whether Robart’s order temporarily halting the implementation of the so-called “Muslim ban” will immediately harm the United States. Watch that hearing, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Pacific, live in the player above.

The larger Constitutional questions raised in the lawsuit brought by Washington state Attorney General Bob Fergusson will likely have to wait. Tuesday’s hearing relates only to the temporary hold Robart imposed so the legality of Trump’s executive order can be more fully considered.

A decision from the 9th Circuit panel is expected to come later in the week.

The government is expected to ask the federal appeals court to restore Trump’s executive order, contending that the president alone has the power to decide who can enter or stay in the United States. Washington and several other states have challenged the ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations, insisting that it is unconstitutional.

Whatever the court decides, either side could ask the Supreme Court to intervene. The Supreme Court rarely weighs in on preliminary orders, like the one Robart issued, and is unlikely to take the case.

Robart on Friday temporarily blocked Trump’s order after noting that a judge’s job is to ensure that an action taken by the government “comports with our country’s laws.” He was soon lambasted on Twitter by the president, who called Robart – a long-serving, ideologically mild George W. Bush appointee – a “so-called judge.”

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has told lawmakers that the executive order should have been delayed at least long enough to brief Congress about it.

Caption

Demonstrators sit down in the concourse and hold a sign that reads “We are America.” More than 1,000 people gathered at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017 to protest President Trump’s immigration ban. Trump signed an executive order the day before that barred citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the U.S. for the next 90 days and suspended the admission of all refugees for 120 days. The order was put on hold nationwide by a federal judge in New York at about the time the Seattle protest gathered.

A protester joins a chant.

TSA agents keep protesters out of the security lines.

More than 1,000 people gathered for the protest.

A man yells for TSA agents to join the demonstration.

Protesters wave signs and chant.

Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant raises a fist over the crowd.

Matt Sernett holds his daughter Wade, 5, atop his shoulders.

Protesters listen to speakers.

Protesters wave signs and chant.

Protesters hop on escalators.

Police officers block a security entrance.

Protesters crowd the terminal.

Protesters wave signs and chant.

Protesters fill a balcony and stairway.

Protesters wave signs and chant.

Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant speaks to the more than 1,000 people gathered at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Sabrina Sheikh, left, a naturalized citizen who immigrated here from Pakistan at age 2, and Arsalan Bukhari, right, hold up a flag that reads “We are America,” as more than 1,000 people gather at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Saturday, Jan. 28 to protest President Trump’s immigration ban.

The appeals court over the weekend refused to immediately reinstate the ban, and lawyers for Washington and Minnesota argued anew on Monday that any resumption would “unleash chaos again,” separating families and stranding university students.

The Justice Department responded that the president has clear authority to “suspend the entry of any class of aliens” to the U.S. in the name of national security. It said the travel ban was intended “to permit an orderly review and revision of screening procedures to ensure that adequate standards are in place to protect against terrorist attacks.”

After Robart’s ruling, the State Department quickly said people from the seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — with valid visas could travel to the U.S.

A graduate student who had traveled to Libya with her 1-year-old son to visit her sick mother and attend her father’s funeral was back in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Monday after having been stopped in Jordan on her return trip. She was welcomed with flowers and balloons by her husband and other children.

Syrian immigrant Mathyo Asali said he thought his life was “ruined” when he landed at Philadelphia International Airport on Jan. 28 only to be denied entry to the United States. Asali, who returned to Damascus, said he figured he’d be inducted into the Syrian military. He was back on U.S. soil Monday.

The travel ban itself is to expire in 90 days, meaning it could run its course before the litigation is resolved. Or the administration could change the order and keep the issue alive.

States challenging the ban have been joined by technology companies, who have said it makes it more difficult to recruit employees. National security officials under President Barack Obama have also come out against it.

This report includes information from The Associated Press and seattlepi.com.

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