Dueling Court Rulings on Immigration Ban Add to Visa Chaos

By NICHOLAS KULISH, CAITLIN DICKERSON and CHARLIE SAVAGEFEB. 3, 2017

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The check-in area of the international terminal at Logan Airport in Boston this
week. Credit M. Scott Brauer for The New York Times
Rival court decisions on opposite sides of the country created deep confusion ov
er President Trump s immigration order on Friday, with a federal judge in Boston i
ssuing a decision defending the measure and another in Seattle blocking it natio
nwide.
The Seattle ruling was the most far-reaching to date, temporarily reopening the
door to visa holders from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The federal gove
rnment was arguing that we have to protect the U.S. from individuals from these c
ountries, and there s no support for that, said the judge, James Robart of Federal
District Court, an appointee of President George W. Bush, in a decision delivere
d from the bench.
The Justice Department did not say whether it would appeal the ruling, and it wa
s unclear Friday night how quickly, or even if, the revoked travel rights would
be restored.
The department looks forward to reviewing the court s written order and will determ
ine next steps, said Nicole A. Navas, a Justice Department spokeswoman.
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That ruling came shortly after a federal judge in Boston gave the government a v
ictory in declining to extend a temporary halt to the order in that jurisdiction
.
The judge, Nathaniel M. Gorton, who was appointed to the bench by the first Pres
ident George Bush, said that while the nation s immigration history was a source o
f great pride and that the plaintiffs in that case Iranian nationals who are aca
demics had compelling stories, the public interest in safety and security in this
ever-more dangerous world is strong as well.
The decisions added to widespread disagreement over how the policy was being car
ried out, flummoxing immigration lawyers, government officials and travelers a f
ull week after its signing.
To gasps in a Virginia courtroom, a lawyer for the government told a federal jud
ge on Friday that more than 100,000 visas had been revoked as part of President
Trump s order. A State Department official later contradicted that number, saying
that the figure was fewer than 60,000.
With the varying court rulings, the involvement of three executive agencies in a
ddition to the White House, and airlines inconsistent in how they were applying
the order, no two people could be guaranteed comparable treatment.
It s quite clear it was not all that thought out, said Judge Leonie Brinkema of Fede
ral District Court in Alexandria, Va., an appointee of President Bill Clinton. As
a result there has been chaos.
The order, signed Jan. 27, banned immigration for 90 days from seven majority-Mu
slim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It suspended
the admission of Syrian refugees indefinitely and all other refugees for 120 da
ys. The president said the pause was needed so the government could evaluate its
vetting procedures to protect against terrorism.
In order to protect Americans, and to advance the national interest, the United S
tates must ensure that we have adequate information about individuals seeking to
enter this country to ensure that they do not bear malicious intent toward the
United States and its people, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.
Graphic
Trump s Immigration Ban: Who Is Barred and Who Is Not
A wide array of people are affected by President Trump s order.
OPEN Graphic
The order allowed for exceptions in the national interest, but lawyers for some tr
avelers described getting one as a Kafkaesque exercise, with the State Departmen
t s website warning that no emergency applications would be heard, and Customs and
Border Protection agents at United States airports all but unreachable because
their clients were not being allowed to board planes.
Protests over the policy continued on Friday, including a large group that gathe
red in a parking lot of Kennedy International Airport in New York for a midday M
uslim prayer session.
One big question surrounded the number of people who were affected by the travel
ban. Besides barring refugees and other visa holders from the seven countries f
rom entering the United States, the administration also revoked, at least tempor
arily, all visas from the seven countries, including those for people currently
living in the United States. The revocations, which were not publicly announced
but were revealed during court proceedings, meant that anyone who lost their vis
a would be unable to re-enter the United States if they left.
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The State Department said late Friday that the Justice Department s 100,000 number
also included diplomatic visas, which were untouched by the ban, as well as exp
ired visas from the seven countries. The true number of revoked visas was less t
han 60,000, the State Department said. To put that number in context, we issued o
ver 11 million immigrant and nonimmigrant visas in fiscal year 2015, said William
Cocks, a spokesman for the department s Bureau of Consular Affairs.
The situation in Boston epitomized the confusion around the country. Last Sunday
, a federal judge there imposed a seven-day block to the order, and told the gov
ernment to tell airlines that anyone with a visa from the seven countries should
be permitted to enter the country through Boston s Logan Airport.
That led some stranded travelers to try to rebook flights to Logan, but in numer
ous cases, they were still told they could not board the planes. Then the German
airline Lufthansa said it would began taking passengers to Logan, and a handful
successfully landed there Friday afternoon.
If I didn t do it today, I probably never could do it, said Atiyeh Goudarzi, 32, who
is from Iran.
Judge Gorton s decision Friday denied a request by the A.C.L.U. of Massachusetts a
nd the state attorney general, to make permanent the seven-day restraining order
, meaning it would expire Sunday morning.
Because the court fights so far have centered on whether judges should impose an
d keep in place temporary restraining orders, the legal arguments in the last fe
w days have centered on the government s contention that there is no potential irre
parable harm to justify keeping the extraordinary orders in place pending fuller
briefing and arguments.
It has also played down First Amendment claims by groups who have challenged the
order because they want to bring foreigners into the country for speeches or me
etings, saying the foreigners could appear via videoconference or telephone.
The administration has been criticized for issuing its order without any warning
to refugees and visa holders who were on their way to the United States. Some a
rrived at airports for flights and were turned away.
This order touched something in the U.S. that I ve never seen before, Judge Brinkema
said, according to The Associated Press. People are quite upset.
Charles Roth, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, a
firm that provides legal services and advocacy for immigrants, said that earlie
r in the week, two of his clients, a couple from Iran, were denied entry onto a
flight bound for Dulles Airport outside Washington after they had received long-
awaited permission to enter the country.
The husband and wife had sold their home and quit their jobs in Iran in preparat
ion to move to the United States, Mr. Roth said. He advised them to book a secon
d flight, which is scheduled to fly into Logan Airport in Boston on Saturday eve
ning, just before the temporary restraining order expires. I don t know exactly wha
t s going to happen when they arrive, Mr. Roth said. I mean, if they arrive.
Reporting was contributed by Gardiner Harris, Eric Lichtblau, Ted Siefer, Kathar
ine Q. Seelye and Kristen Young.