Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 7 February 2017
Travel ban hits appeals court as travelers arrive to tears

Continued from front lenged both Trump’s au-
thority and his ability to ful-
The lawyers were expected fill a campaign promise.
to argue in a brief that the The State Department
president, not the courts, quickly said people from
has the authority to set na- the seven countries — Iran,
tional security policy and Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan,
that an executive order Syria and Yemen — could
to control access at the travel to the U.S. if they had
country’s borders is lawful. valid visas. The Homeland
The filing with the 9th U.S. Security Department said
Circuit Court of Appeals it was no longer directing
was to be the latest salvo airlines to prevent affected
in a high-stakes legal fight visa holders from boarding
surrounding Trump’s order, U.S.-bound planes.
which was halted Friday by On Monday in Colorado, a
a federal judge in Wash- graduate student who had
ington state. traveled to Libya with her
The appeals court refused 1-year-old son to visit her
to immediately reinstate sick mother and attend her
the ban, and lawyers for father’s funeral was back
Washington and Minneso- in Fort Collins after having
ta — two states challeng- been stopped in Jordan
ing it — argued anew on on her return trip. She was
Monday that any resump- Tawfik Assali, 21, center, of Allentown, Pa., embraces his sister Sarah Assali, 19, upon her and welcomed with flowers
tion would “unleash chaos other family members’ arrival from Syria at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and balloons by her hus-
again,” separating families Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. Right is Mathew Assali, 17, who arrived today. Attorneys said Dr. Assali’s band and other children.
and stranding university brothers, their wives and their two teenage children returned to Syria after they were denied Two Yemeni brothers
entrance to the United States on Jan. 28 although they had visas in hand after a 13-year effort.
students. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) whose family has sued over
It’s not clear how quickly the travel ban, and who’d
the appeals court might been turned away in the
rule. Whatever the out- though, to find the neces- strength since Justice An- The president’s executive chaotic opening days of
come, either side could sary five votes at the high tonin Scalia’s death a year order has faced legal un- the order, arrived at Dull-
ask the Supreme Court to court to undo a lower court ago. The last immigration certainty ever since Friday’s es International Airport in
intervene. order; the Supreme Court case that reached the jus- ruling by U.S. District Judge Virginia, where they were
It could prove difficult, has been at less than full tices ended in a 4-4 tie. James Robart, which chal- greeted by their father.
“America is for every-
body,” Aqel Aziz said after
greeting his sons.
Syrian immigrant Mathyo
Asali said he thought his
life was “ruined” when he
landed at Philadelphia In-
ternational Airport on Jan.
28 only to be denied entry
to the United States. Asali,
who returned to Damas-
cus, said he figured he’d
be inducted into the Syr-
ian military. He was back
on U.S. soil Monday.
“It’s really nice to know that
there’s a lot of people sup-
porting us,” Asali told Gov.
Tom Wolf, who greeted the
family at a relative’s house
in Allentown.
The legal fight involves two
divergent views of the role
of the executive branch
and the court system. The
government has asserted
that the president alone
has the power to decide
who can enter or stay in
the United States, while Ro-
bart has said a judge’s job
is to ensure that an action
taken by the government
“comports with our coun-
try’s laws.”q