Appeal Court Blocks Trump Bid to Reinstate Immigration Order

A panel of federal appeals court judges ruled Thursday evening to keep a restraining order against Donald Trump’s controversial immigration action in place, foiling the administration’s attempt to get the action reinstated, according to court documents.

The move capped a public campaign by the president to put pressure on the courts to rule in his favor, calling the decision “easy” and suggesting that the judge who made the original ruling could be to blame if a terrorist attack happens.

Tonight, Trump lashed out against ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in an all-caps tweet.

SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

In its unanimous decision, the three-judge panel denied the Department of Justice’s bid for an emergency stay, saying that the president’s previous remarks about a Muslim ban potentially could be used as evidence, saying rights attached to non-citizens and saying the government did not present evidence that nationals from the affected countries perpetrated attacks in the U.S.

“We hold that the Government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay,” the panel, from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote in the decision Thursday.