Federal Judge Temporarily Blocked President Trump’s Muslim Ban Nationwide

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed on Friday that it will comply with the federal judge's temporary halt of the Muslim Ban and it notified airlines to allow travellers with visas to board planes headed to the U.S.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

February 4, 2017

Seattle, WA- On Friday, a federal judge in Seattle granted Attorney General Bob Ferguson's request to immediately halt implementation of President Donald Trump's Executive Order on immigration nationwide, according to a press release by the Attorney General's Office in the State of Washington.
The Temporary Restraining Order will remain in place until U.S. District Court Senior Judge James L. Robart considers the Attorney General's lawsuit challenging key provisions of the President's order as illegal and unconstitutional. If Ferguson prevails, the Executive Order would be permanently invalidated nationwide.
To obtain the Temporary Restraining Order, the state needed to prove that its underlying lawsuit was likely to succeed, that irreparable harm was likely to occur without the restraining order, and that halting the President's order immediately is in the public interest. The state also needed to establish that the potential injury to Washington residents caused by leaving the President's order in place outweighs any potential damage from halting it.

Judge Robart, who was nominated to the court by President George W. Bush in 2003, ruled that Ferguson had met the high standards necessary to block the Executive Order until the court reaches the merits of the lawsuit.
"The Constitution prevailed today," Ferguson said. "No one is above the law — not even the President."
Washington became the first state to challenge the President's order on Monday. Ferguson argues that the Executive Order violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of Equal Protection and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, infringes individuals' constitutional right to Due Process and contravenes the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
Major Washington state institutions supported the Attorney General's lawsuit through declarations filed alongside the complaint. In their declarations, for example, Amazon and Expedia set forth the detrimental ways the Executive Order impacts their operations and their employees.

Minnesota, led by Attorney General Lori Swanson, joined Ferguson's amended complaint filed Thursday. In addition, since Washington brought its action, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia intervened in similar lawsuits challenging the Executive Order in their respective jurisdictions.
Solicitor General Noah Purcell, Deputy Solicitor General Anne Egeler and Solicitor General's Office Fellow Kelly Paradis, as well as members of the Wing Luke Civil Rights Unit, including Unit Chief Colleen Melody and Assistant Attorneys General Patricio Marquez and Marsha Chien, are handling the case., according to Ferguson.

Copy of federal lawsuit against the Trump's Muslim ban filed by Bob Ferguson, the Attorney General from the State of Washington (PDF) http://bit.ly/2l74GTS

Update: President Trump goes on a Twitter rant about his Muslim ban that was temporarily blocked by U.S. District Court Senior Judge James L. Robart.
At first, a White House statement said "outrageous" about the ban being blocked, but later the word was taken out on a revised update.

An appeals federal judge in Minnesota on Sunday denied the U.S. DOJ emergency request on behalf of President Trump to lift an injunction blocking a Muslim ban nationwide while an appeal is pending. (Source: HNNUSA/Hispanic News Network U.S.A.)