President Trump’s efforts to restrict entry of immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries to the U.S. have been trumped.  Less than a month into his term, he has succeeded in bringing 52 lawsuits against himself and his administration, some related to this ban.  On Feb. 3, Federal District Court Judge James Robart issued a temporary restraining order on two key points of Trump’s “Protection Of The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”: the 90-day suspension of entry of people from Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Iran, Sudan, Somalia and Syria, and the limits on refugees.  The federal government has appealed to the Ninth Circuit in hopes that they will impose a stay on the restraining order.  Both sides were asked to prepare briefs by Sunday, Feb. 5, and a hearing took place on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

In what may have been a strategic move by Judge Robart, the Friday issuing of the temporary restraining order allowed for many refugees and travelers to enter the country over the weekend.  Seeing as court is not in session on weekends, his decision to issue the order on a Friday gave many people the ability to gain entry into the U.S.  A temporary restraining order can be issued by judges as a check to the executive branch’s power.  When it comes to immigration policy, the judicial and legislative branches usually do not intervene due to their lack of knowledge of national security.  Judge Robart and others felt that this executive order warranted extreme intervention, hence his decision to halt enforcement of the ban.

President Trump took to Twitter to complain, referring to Robart as a “so-called judge,” stating that “if something happens” he should be blamed, and vowing to overturn the restraining order. He then continued to slam the court and judges, insinuating that they are politically motivated.  While Trump once again displayed his obsession with updating Twitter on his every thought, an Iranian baby’s life was saved.  The four-month-old child who required heart surgery to live was barred due to the travel ban.  Judge Robart’s order gave her access to the health care sought and she will therefore survive.

“The ‘Muslim Ban’ is completely unconstitutional. This is greater than a safety precaution, this is islamophobia and xenophobia on a massive scale.  It’s disgusting to think that we’ve turned a cold shoulder to the world.  Even though judges have ruled Trump’s executive order as unconstitutional and have placed temporary bans against it, the justice department is on Trump’s side,” senior Courtney Abbott said.

Once the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reaches a decision, they will either give time for Robart to issue a full injunction or overturn his order.  Although it is hard to be sure of which decision the judges will reach, it is presumed that they will allow Robart more time to ponder over whether he should make the temporary restraining order an injunction.  Usually, temporary restraining orders cannot be appealed so the federal government has to prove the necessity of placing a stay on the halt.  Regardless of the outcome, it is highly likely that the losing side will choose to take it to the Supreme Court.  This does not necessarily mean the Court will decide to hear the case, but there is a high probability that the case be brought to the highest court of the land.