ImmigrationProf Blog

Thursday, February 16, 2017

President Trump says new travel ban is on the way

Breaking News! President Trump said today that his administration will soon release a new, narrower executive order on travel to replace his January 27 immigration executive order that the courts temporarily barred from implementation. In a brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today, the Department of Justice argued that the court was wrong in its move to not reinstate the travel ban but that the U.S. government did not seek a reconsideration of the decision because a new executive order, which would supersede the old, is in the works.

The relevant section of the brief reads as follows:

"the United States does not seek en banc review of the merits of the panel’s ruling. Rather than continuing this litigation, the President intends in the near future to rescind the Order and replace it with a new, substantially revised Executive Order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns. Cf. Op. 24 (declining to narrow the district court’s overbroad injunction because “[t]he political branches are far better equipped to make appropriate distinctions”). In so doing, the President will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation. Under the unusual circumstances presented here—including the extraordinarily expedited proceedings and limited briefing to the panel, the complexity and constitutional magnitude of the issues, the Court’s sua sponte consideration of rehearing en banc, and respect for the President’s constitutional responsibilities—the government respectfully submits that the most appropriate course would be for the Court to hold its consideration of the case until the President issues the new Order and then vacate the panel’s preliminary decision. To facilitate that disposition, the government will notify the Court of the new Order as soon as it is issued."