In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote, “There is no Solution! There will never be a state of society anything like perfect!” in his novel “It Can’t Happen Here.” Though written almost a century ago, Lewis had the right idea; a nation so assured in their own personal opinion will never reach a perfect union of opinion. A prime example of this division excretes from President Donald Trump’s Executive Order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. The order, along with all events that arose after, inspired controversy and uproar from a large portion of citizens in the United States. This anger transposed into protests which transposed into law suits which has left many citizens lost as to what is even happening at this point.
Here is a summary of the travel ban, the restraining order and the court hearings that has all occurred in the past two weeks.
The Executive Order and the Protests
After President Trump was officially sworn into office, he hit the ground running and signed many executive orders; this included, what was nicknamed the travel ban. On January 27, 2016, Donald Trump signed an order to halt all travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and suspended refugee admissions for 120 days. This order affected permanent US residents, green-card holders, visa holders and other foreign visitors. The president was greeted by both insult and praise to the temporary policy all across the nation. Within 24 hours, protesters flooded airports all across the country in hopes that security will release those they detained under the new travel ban restrictions. Officials release valid visa holders 24 hours after the ban was installed.
This difference of opinion went from Twitter fights and signs taped in windows to courtroom rebuttals and, well, Twitter fights still, within a week.
Restraining Orders and Court
The first legal attack against the president occurred January 30th, when the state of Washington’s attorney general, with help from plaintiffs from the state of Minnesota, sued the Trump administration, claiming the states met its burden in demonstrating immediate and irreparable injury. Virginia, Massachusetts and New York then proceeded to sue the administration as well under the assertion it is a violation of the constitution. The states requested for an immediate restraining order against the ban. Within the next couple days, a Washington state district court judge approved the restraining order and temporarily suspended the executive order.
The Trump administration attempted to repeal the restraining order twice. The first time went through U.S. District Court Judge James Robart, who sided with the two states. After the next three states sued the administration, the justice department demanded an immediate repeal to the restraining order, stating the suspension was putting the nation’s security at high risk. The appeals court in San Francisco denied the request for lack of evidence showing threats from the travelers and the countries affected by the order. President Trump, as per usual, went to his favorite platform, Twitter, and wrote a tweet showing his frustration with the legal system, as you can see below:
Still to Come
President Trump has been ambiguous as to what the administration will do next, but the president promises that though he may not win this battle, he will win the war. His tweet seems to promise further court dates for the repeal of his executive order and take the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. On the other hand, the president also leaked that he considers to let the courts repeal the travel ban, for he plans to redraw a new policy. This U.S. immigration order is still in the process of creation, and absolutely no one knows what to expect if he takes this course of action.
Protests, no matter in what form, continue to flow through the United States. From commercials of major companies, to walks on college campuses nationwide, to speeches and tweets broadcasted by celebrities and important political officials, the nation is torn apart by those for and those against the ban. Former president Abraham Lincoln warned, “A nation divided cannot stand,” and the United States is starting to feel the full effect of those five words. No matter the outcome, American society will still be separated, and will continue to attempt to find that perfect solution we are yet to find. Though Sinclair Lewis argued this harmony is nonexistent, we continue to fight for our personal causes, hoping to one day find it.