[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed an appellate brief [text, PDF] Monday in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] calling for the reinstatement of President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration order. Regarding this case [materials], the administration has declared [NYT report] that the lower court’s emergency stay on the order entrenched upon the president’s exclusive authority to suspend the entry of any class of aliens in the name of national security. According to the brief, Trump’s order is intended to ensure that current security standards prevent future terrorist attacks from countries deemed as harbingers of potential threats. It was further stated that judicial review of the president’s motives behind the order would violate the separation of powers. In their brief [text, PDF], challenging states Washington and Minnesota warned of the chaos that would ensue from the immigration order’s continuation, stating that “preserving the status quo against sudden disruption is often in the interest of all parties.” The states also supported the court’s right to evaluate Trump’s motives behind the order. Arguments on the matter are scheduled to be heard on Tuesday.

Trump signed the executive order [JURIST op-ed] in late January. Only a day later, a judge for the Eastern District of New York issued an emergency stay [JURIST report], temporarily preventing execution of the law, until the question of whether it applied to valid visa holders could be resolved. That issue was resolved by a district judge in Michigan, who ordered [JURIST report] that the travel ban could not be applied to legal citizens, including those holding visas. On Friday the US District Court for the Western District of Washington [official website] issued a stay [JURIST report] of Trump’s order. Following appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied [JURIST report] the Trump Administration’s emergency motion [text, PDF] to reinstate the immigration restrictions, thereby suspending the order until arguments have been heard. Thus far Hawaii has moved to intervene in the matter and 15 other states, including the District of Columbia, have filed amicus briefs supporting Washington and Minnesota.