The Trump administration scored a victory Friday in its effort to enact a temporary ban on refugee resettlement and travel of foreign nationals from six countries, with a federal judge in Virginia siding with President Trump over a Muslim civil-rights group that challenged the legality of his revised executive order.
Two other federal court rulings already blocked portions of the executive order from going into effect March 16, but U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga on Friday declined to grant another order restraining enforcement of the law — setting up a potential showdown in the appeals process.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which brought the Virginia lawsuit, alleged a variety of harms as a result of the revised executive order, including an overall stigma against Muslims living in the United States, and an inability for some plaintiffs to bring relatives living in Syria and Iran to the United States to visit family.
But in a ruling that diverged from those issued this month by other federal judges, Judge Trenga concluded that the plaintiffs were not able to establish a likelihood that they would succeed on the merits of the case or that there would be a public interest in putting off enforcement of the executive order. As a result he declined to issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction in the case.
“In determining whether the Plaintiffs have made the required showing, the issue is not whether [the second executive order] is wise, necessary, under- or over-inclusive, or even fair. It is not whether [the second executive order] could have been more usefully directed to populations living in particular geographical areas presenting even greater threats to national security or even whether it is politically motivated,” Judge Trenga wrote in a 32-page order. “Rather, the core substantive issue of law, as to which Plaintiffs must establish a clear likelihood of success, is whether [the second executive order] falls within the bounds of the President’s statutory authority or whether the President has exercised that authority in violation of constitutional restraints.”
Justice Department officials praised the ruling.
“As the court correctly explains, the President’s executive order falls well within his authority to safeguard the nation’s security,” said DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores.
Judges in Maryland and Hawaii issued orders last week that prevent the Trump administration from enforcing portions of the executive order. The Trump administration has indicated it intends to appeal the Maryland order and has unsuccessfully tried to scale back the portions of the order that are blocked from taking effect by the Hawaii ruling.
The revised order would ban foreign nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from traveling to the United States for 90 days. It would also ban for 120 days all refugee resettlement in the United States and would lower the cap on the number of refugees to be allowed into the United States this year from 110,000 people to 50,000 people.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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