4th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds block on Trump’s travel ban

A federal appeals court on May 25th kept in place a block on President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to temporarily suspend the entry of nationals from six predominantly Muslim countries.

In a 10-3 decision, judges in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower district court's decision to halt parts of Trump's March 6 executive order. The order intended to temporarily stop the entry of nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Trump's directive has been challenged for numerous claims, including that it violates constitutional protections against discrimination.

While Congress gives the president broad power to deny entry to immigrants, "that power is not absolute," Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory wrote in an opinion for the court. 

"It cannot go unchecked when, as here, the President wields it through an executive edict that stands to cause irreparable harm to individuals across this nation," Gregory wrote. 

Trump's executive order "in text speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination," the ruling from the Richmond, Va.-based court said. 

Judges took into consideration presidential campaign statements made by Trump regarding a "Muslim ban."

The Justice Department "strongly disagrees" with the decision and plans to escalate the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement May 25.

Three judges dissented, including Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, who wrote that considering Trump's campaign statements is "unprecedented and unworkable." 

Separately, a decision is pending from another case in the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judges there are reviewing a decision from a lower court which also halted Trump's executive order.

In light of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirming the block on Trump's executive order, we continue to rate Trump' promise to suspend immigration from terror-prone places as Stalled.