A federal appeals court early Sunday denied the Trump administration’s request to reinstate the “extreme vetting” program to deny U.S. entry by potential terrorists.
The decision delivered a second blow to President Trump’s Jan. 27 order to hit the pause button on refugees and visitors coming from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — while the government develops better screening methods to identify terrorists.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Fransisco rejected the Justice Department ’s emergency motion to immediately reinstate the program while a full appeal proceeds in court.
A federal judge in Seattle ruled against the program Friday, restoring the flow of visitors and refugees.
Mr. Trump has predicted that his administration will ultimately prevail.
“We’ll win. For the safety of the country, we’ll win,” the president told reporters Saturday at a gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the weekend.
The appeals court said the Trump administration now must reply in support of the emergency motion by 3 p.m. Monday.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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