Federal judge in Virginia disagrees with Hawaii judge, upholds Trump “Travel Ban”
The Associated Press describes the ruling as a “major victory” for the Trump administration.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice released a statement to the Hill saying, “As the Court correctly explains, the President’s Executive Order falls well within his authority to safeguard the nation’s security.”
The Hill
A federal judge in Virginia on Friday upheld President Trump’s revised travel ban, delivering a small victory to the Trump administration as it seeks to strengthen its legal case for the executive order that has been blocked in other courts.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, who sits on the Eastern District Court of Virginia in Alexandria, rebuffed Muslim activists’ request to temporarily bar the executive order on the grounds that the ban, which blocks travel to the United States for travelers from six predominately Muslim countries, acts as a discriminatory ban on a particular religious group.
The order, Trenga wrote in his opinion, falls well within the president’s authority over the country’s foreign policy and national security.
“The President has provided a detailed justification for the Order based on national security needs, and enjoining the operation of [executive order] would interfere with the President’s unique constitutional responsibilities to conduct international relations, provide for the national defense, and secure the nation,” he wrote.
The ruling is welcome news for the Trump administration after a federal judge in Hawaii issued a ruling last week halting enforcement of the ban nationwide. The ban has also been put on hold by a federal judge in Maryland.