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New York, Feb. 13, 2017 (Reuters/NAN) Washington State’s Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, has promised to uncover “what truly motivated” President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, a report said.
It said that the approach could prompt a rare public examination of how a U.S. president makes national security decisions.
The presidential order imposed a temporary ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
However, a federal judge has barred enforcement of the order while the court considers a challenge brought by Washington State.
On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit left the judge’s ruling in place without deciding the ultimate merits of either side’s arguments.
In its decision, the 9th Circuit cited a previous case establishing that “circumstantial evidence of intent including statements by decision makers may be considered in evaluating whether a governmental action was motivated by a discriminatory purpose.
The Trump administration has argued that the ban is necessary to prevent potential terrorists from entering the country.
It said that it was not discriminatory because the text of the order does not mention any particular religion.
Ferguson had signalled that he will move aggressively to obtain written documents and emails authored by administration officials that might contain evidence that the order was unconstitutionally biased against Muslims or Islam.
He also said he would also move to depose administration officials.
Legal scholars say this could move the court into uncharted waters.
“The idea of looking at motive has never really been applied to the president,’’ a Former Justice Department lawyer in the George W. Bush administration John Yoo said.
“It would represent a serious expansion of judicial oversight of what the president and the entire executive branch does,” he said.
Yoo is presently a professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Abdullahi Yusuf