BREAKING NEWS: Washington State Federal Judge Halts Executive Order

Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, of the state of Washington announced yesterday that a federal judge in Seattle has granted a request to immediately halt implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration nationwide. The Temporary Restraining Order will remain in place until a U.S. District Court Senior Judge considers the lawsuit; if granted the Executive Order would be permanently invalidated nationwide.

The underlying lawsuit alleges that the Executive Order violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of Equal Protection and the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, infringes on the constitutional right to Due Process, and contravenes the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.

In response to the Federal Judge’s opinion, the White House’s press secretary issued a statement saying: “At the earliest possible time, the Department of Justice intends to file an emergency stay of this outrageous order and defend the executive order of the President, which we believe is lawful and appropriate”.

According to a report by CNN, Following the immediate halt of the executive order on Friday night, CBP instructed airlines that it was “back to business as usual”. The U.S. government is promptly taking steps to reinstate those visas which were cancelled as a result of the executive order and confirmed that refugees holding US visas will be allowed entry to the U.S.

In complying with the judge’s order the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suspended the implementation of the relevant sections of the Executive Order.  Until then, we still advise that foreign nationals from the 7 countries listed in the EO avoid non-essential international travel. However, if there are any nationals from the 7 countries currently outside of the U.S. who wish to return, this Temporary Restraining Order may afford a window of time for reentry while the DOS acts to reinstate these visas.

EIG will continue to monitor the news for any further development. 

For questions please email usvisa@eiglaw.com.