Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday said the Department of Justice will ask the Supreme Court to review an appeals court’s refusal to lift a nationwide block on President Donald Trump’s executive order barring travelers from six majority-Muslim countries.
“The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the decision of the divided court,” Sessions said in a statement. “This Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the power and duty of the Executive Branch to protect the people of this country from danger, and will seek review of this case in the United States Supreme Court.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Thursday refused to lift a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking key aspects of Trump’s travel ban.
Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Roger Gregory wrote that, in context, the order “drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination” and “stands to cause irreparable harm to individuals across this nation.”
Trump responded vehemently in February to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ refusal to reinstate the ban, tweeting: “SEE YOU IN COURT.”
The ban has not fared any better in court hearings since.