Trump Administration Appeals Suspension of Second Immigration Order

On Friday, March 17, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal against the suspension of the second immigration order by a federal court in Maryland. According to Reuters, the Department of Justice specified in its appeal that it is contesting the suspension ruling made by Theodore Chuang, a federal judge in Maryland, to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The federal judge's ruling only suspended part of Donald Trump's second immigration order, which bans the entry of citizens from Iran, Sudan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen into the U.S. for 90 days. Meanwhile, Derrick Watson, a federal judge in Hawaii, ruled on Wednesday to suspend the entire new immigration order from Trump, stating that the second immigration order is unconstitutional. The second immigration order was set to take effect on Thursday but was halted before it could be implemented. In addition to Hawaii and Maryland, several other states, including Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, Massachusetts, and New York, have filed lawsuits against this executive order. Donald Trump initially issued an order on January 27, temporarily suspending travel for citizens from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and Somalia. However, following a lawsuit from Washington state, the appeals court ultimately ruled to suspend this order. Following the suspension of this order, Trump signed a new executive order on March 6, temporarily banning citizens from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. Iraq was removed from the list of countries whose citizens were temporarily banned from traveling. According to the second order, the entry of citizens from Iran, Sudan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen into the U.S. is banned for 90 days. The new executive order was scheduled to take effect on March 26 and also suspended the acceptance of refugees for 120 days. "Citizens of Iran and five other countries can again apply for visas." Following the suspension of the second immigration order, the U.S. State Department announced that its embassies and consulates would continue to process visa applications from citizens of the six countries, including Iran. According to the U.S. virtual embassy for Iran, the statement said: "On March 15, 2017, a federal district court in Hawaii issued an order preventing the State Department from enforcing sections 2 and 6 of Executive Order 13780, which suspended visa issuance and entry into the U.S. On March 16, 2017, a federal district court in Maryland also issued a separate order preventing the State Department from enforcing section (c) of section 2 of the same executive order. Both orders are immediately enforceable." The statement added: "Since the executive order had not yet been implemented, U.S. embassies and consulates will continue to process visa applications from citizens of the six countries [designated in the executive order] as before. The State Department suspends the enforcement of the sections of the executive order based on the relevant court orders."