Federal court halts Trump’s immigration ban

Deportations are suspended, but a long fight is yet to come

by Nilay Patel@reckless Jan 28, 2017, 8:50pm EST

The federal court for the Eastern District of New York issued an emergency stay halting deportations under President Donald Trump’s executive order banning entry to the US from seven majority-Muslim countries tonight, following widespread protests at airports around the country.

You can read the full text of the stay here.

The court order prevents the government from sending immigrants back to their home countries because it would cause them “irreparable harm,” but it is unclear if they will have to remain in detention until a substantive ruling on the constitutionality of the ban is delivered. “If someone is not being released, I guess I’ll just hear from you,” Judge Ann Donnelly told the plaintiff’s lawyers, according to the New York Times.

People affected by the order with valid greencards and visas who were not in transit at the time are still likely stuck abroad, but there’s now at least a time frame for a further ruling on the ban.

The court ruled on a habeas corpus petition filed by the ACLU on behalf of Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, who were denied entry to the US upon landing at JFK airport in New York City and detained indefinitely by Customs and Border Patrol. Darweesh spent a decade working for the United States military in Iraq as an interpreter and engineer and had been granted an entry visa after background checks; Alshawi had been granted a visa in order to join his wife and son who are already permanent residents of the US after similar interactions with the US military.

The court specifically ruled on Darweesh and Alshawi’s petition; other similarly-situated people being detained and those in transit are covered by the ruling, which is only temporary. But the point of a stay is to preserve the status quo while a permanent ruling is made — something the judge specifically reminded the lawyers for the goverment in the courtroom. And as the tweet from the National Immigration Law Center’s Jackie Vimo indicates above, the judge feels there is a likelihood of success on the merits for the case moving forward.

Trump’s executive order halts all immigration from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Syria. The ban was issued late on Friday, leading to widespread confusion about how it would be implemented and enforced, chaos as those decisions were made quickly and without a great deal of transparency, and controversy as the essential legality of a ban that effectively targets Muslims was called into question.

Protests have erupted at airports around the country in response to the ban, and the tech industry has signaled significant opposition to it in tones ranging from measured to morally outraged.

It’s clear that the White House will argue to have the executive order reinstated as soon as possible while it fights to show the ban is constitutional.