President Donald Trump’s administration defended his controversial immigration decree in an appeals court after the president accused the media and the justice system of underestimating a terrorist threat.
Three skeptical federal judges from the San Francisco Federal Court of Appeals heard government and Washington state arguments, where a court blocked the entry ban on refugees and nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The president determined that there is a real risk,
said Justice Department representative August Flentje, stating that the decree was within Trump’s power.
This is a national security criterion traditionally assigned to the political branch and the president,
added the official.
Judges, who did not address the constitutionality of the decree as such, called for evidence to justify the list of the seven banned countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.
In 2015 and 2016, both the Congress and the Executive determined that these seven countries represented the greatest risks of terrorism,
said Flentje.
Judge Richard Clifton considered the government’s argument “quite abstract.”
The lawyer representing the states of Washington and Minnesota asked to continue with the case.
It has always been the role of the judiciary to say what is legal and monitor abuses from the Executive,
said Noah Purcell, who was questioned about the decree and its discrimination against religion, based on the fact that the Muslim population from the seven countries represents a small percentage of the world.
We do not need to prove that this order only affects Muslims or that it affects every Muslim, we only need to prove that it was partly motivated to harm Muslims,
said the lawyer.
If the San Francisco Court holds the suspension, the legal battle will move to the Supreme Court, which will need a five-to-three majority to reject the appeals court ruling.
But that scenario is a mystery: the eight seats of the Supreme Court are equally divided into four conservative magistrates and four progressive magistrates.