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Who is the judge who blocked Donald Trump's travel ban
President Donald Trump's controversial executive order on refugees and immigration has been blocked by a federal judge. The key questions and answers about the ruling, and where we go from here:
President Donald Trump's controversial executive order on refugees and immigration has been blocked by a federal judge. The key questions and answers about the ruling, and where we go from here:
What did Donald Trump’s travel ban do?
Mr Trump signed an executive order on 27 January banning citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - from the US, temporarily suspending America’s refugee programme and barring Syrian refugees from the country indefinitely. The state department invalidated some 60,000 visas from citizens of those seven countries, travellers were held at airports around the US and thousands more were not allowed to board planes to the US.
What was the ruling and what does it mean?
A federal judge in Seattle ruled that the order be suspended temporarily "on a nationwide basis”, meaning government officials had to stop enforcing it and once-banned travellers could enter the country, on the grounds that the order was causing "immediate and irreparable injury” and may be ruled unconstitutional. The state department reissued visas that had been invalidated, and airlines began to allow citizens of the seven countries to board planes to the US. The department of homeland security also said it would comply with the judge's order.
Who is the judge who blocked the ban?
Judge James Robart was nominated for the federal judiciary by George W Bush in 2004, and confirmed unanimously by the Senate. Mr Trump has referred to him as a "so-called judge”, but while the merits of his ruling are being fiercely debated in Washington his authority to issue it is clear.
What was the president’s reaction?
The White House issued a statement late Friday night announcing the justice department would seek an emergency stay to reinstate the ban. The statement originally called the ruling "outrageous” but, apparently in defence to judicial independence, the word was removed. Mr Trump was less cautious, calling the ruling "ridiculous” and vowing it would be swiftly overturned.
What happens next?
The department of justice will have to convince a federal court that Mr Trump was within his authority to issue the ban, and that the order blocking it should be overturned. If the department obtains the emergency stay on Mr Robert’s ruling, the order will go back into effect and the visas that have been approved, rescinded and now reissued will be invalidated once more. Because judges have issued contradictory rulings about the order, the dispute is likely to ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court.
