An appeal court in San Francisco has denied an emergency motion filed by the justice department to reinstate President Donald Trump’s halted immigration ban.
A federal judge blocked the ban on Friday, but the justice department filed an appeal on Saturday.
The department sought to reinstate an executive order which barred citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries and temporarily banned refugees.
The latest decision means the ban will remain frozen throughout the weekend, and that a decision on a further request to restore the ban will be put off until at least Monday afternoon.
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The court gave the White House and the states challenging it a deadline of Monday to present more arguments.
State lawyers had said the travel ban was unconstitutional, but justice department had argued that the lawyers did not have the authority to challenge Trump’s executive order or the right to question his judgment on national security risk.
In its argument, it said the president had “unreviewable authority” to prevent any group of foreigners from entering the country and said Friday’s decision by James Robart, a judge in Seattle, was too general.
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It also conflicted with a ruling by another federal judge in Boston, who had upheld Trump’s executive order, the department said.
The appeal aimed to reverse a federal judge’s Friday order that lifted the travel ban, warning the decision posed an immediate harm to the public.
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