Donald Trump considers new travel ban order as White House refuses to rule out appeal
Updated
US President Donald Trump says he is considering issuing a new travel ban executive order, while the White House says an appeal to the Supreme Court over the ban is still possible.
The White House statement was an about-face on earlier comments, after an official said the administration did not plan to escalate a legal dispute to the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump's original order restricting refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States was put on hold by a federal judge in Seattle last week with a temporary restraining order, and the suspension upheld by an appeals court in San Francisco on Thursday.
During a surprise visit with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Florida from Washington Mr Trump said he was considering "a brand new order" that could be issued as soon as Monday or Tuesday if the administration decides to move in that direction.
Aboard the flight with Trump were his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie, on their way to the Trumps' Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
The President said a new executive order would likely change "very little" from the first.
While a White House official initially suggested the administration would not ask the Supreme Court to overturn that order, chief of staff Reince Priebus later said they were considering all options, including a High Court appeal.
"Every single court option is on the table, including an appeal of the Ninth Circuit decision on the TRO (temporary restraining order) to the Supreme Court, including fighting out this case on the merits," Mr Priebus said.
"And, in addition to that, we're pursuing executive orders right now that we expect to be enacted soon that will further protect Americans from terrorism."
Mr Priebus said the administration was also considering "fighting out this case on the merits" in a lower court.
Who's affected by the travel ban?
- Firstly, Mr Trump signed the executive order on January 27
- It barred travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days
- It also stopped all refugees from entering the country for 120 days
- Except refugees from Syria — they've been banned indefinitely
- Green-card holders had been stopped during the first weekend of the order. Since then, the White House has said those residents wouldn't be affected moving forward
Mr Trump's order, which he called a national security measure meant to head off attacks by Islamist militants, barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days, except refugees from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.
Mr Trump could rewrite the order to explicitly exclude green card holders, or permanent residents, a congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Reuters.
Doing that could alleviate some concerns with the original order expressed by judges in the 9th Circuit Court.
A new order, however, could allow Mr Trump's critics to declare victory by arguing that it would be the first time he was forced to change course.
Regarding the San Francisco court fight, Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One: "We will win that battle. The unfortunate part is that it takes time statutorily, we need speed for reasons of security."
Meanwhile, a US federal appeals court asked the Justice Department and the state of Washington to submit briefs on whether a larger panel of judges should decide if Mr Trump's travel ban should remain on hold.
Reuters/AP
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, united-states
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