A West Coast federal appeals court upheld the freeze on President Trump’s travel ban Monday, declaring that Trump had exceeded his lawful authority in suspending the issuance of visas to residents of six Muslim-majority countries and suspending the U.S. refu­gee program. A three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled against the administration unanimously. Instead, they ruled that Trump’s travel ban lacked a sufficient national security or other justification that would make it legal, and that violated immigration law. Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit had upheld a separate freeze on Trump’s ban on constitutional grounds, that freeze did not apply to the portion of Trump’s order dealing with refugees. See you in the Supreme Court!” Orrick is a ­lower-court judge whose rulings would be reviewed by the 9th Circuit.

Source: Washington Post June 12, 2017 17:20 UTC