Re: Federal Court Halts Trump’s Immigration Ban
Originally Posted by vector7
Billionaire Soros teams up with Democrat attorneys generals to bury Trump Administration in legal challenges
by Fred Lucas | Updated 06 Feb 2017 at 9:49 AM
More than a dozen lawsuits and counting have been filed against President Donald Trump’s executive order that temporarily blocks visas from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. Looking beyond the handful of emotional personal stories that are gaining the media’s sympathy, there is a more predictable political power dynamic at play. The lawsuits largely stem from organizations bankrolled by billionaire leftist George Soros and Democratic state attorneys general.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has carried out a political vendetta against Trump, led 15 other state attorneys general in a joint statement condemning what they called an “unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful executive order.” The Democratic AGs also said, “Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country and no president can change that truth,” a curious statement from the party that targeted the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Last August, George Soros’ son, Alex Soros, posted a picture of himself with Schneiderman on Instagram, and wrote,
“Great to meet with #newyork attorney
general @ericschneiderman who recognized that @realdonaldtrump was a fraud way before many and has courageously taken him on!”
Schneiderman, as well as Democratic attorneys general in Virginia and Massachusetts, intervened in existing lawsuits. The lawsuit brought by Washington State Attorney General Robert Ferguson has achieved the most success, bringing the case that blocked the order nationwide.
The lawsuit convinced a federal judge of the state’s standing on the claim the order is “separating Washington families, harming thousands of Washington residents, damaging Washington’s economy, hurting Washington-based companies and undermining Washington’s sovereign interest in remaining a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees.”
Democrats are even raising money off the lawsuits. In a Facebook post, the Democratic Attorneys General Association said, "Stand with Attorney General Bob Ferguson and all Democratic State Attorneys General fighting for what's right!" It added, "Chip in to support Democratic AGs fighting for progressive rights and freedoms."
Outside of the politicians, Soros' Open Society Foundations, which advocates for open borders, is financing several advocacy groups that initiated litigation against the order.
Leading the way in these lawsuits in several states is the American Civil Liberties Union, which has gotten at least $35.5 million from the Open Society Foundations, according to the Capital Research Center, a Washington think tank that investigates nonprofits.
Soros also gave $4.6 million to the National Immigration Law Center, which has been involved in litigation, according to the CRC; and $621,000 to the Urban Justice Center, which has an appendage known as the International Refugee Assistance Project that has jumped into the lawsuits, according to the CRC.
"It shouldn't surprise anyone that pressure groups funded by George Soros are litigating to keep U.S. ports-of-entry wide open to terrorists and other people who hate America," Matthew Vadum, senior vice president of the CRC, told LifeZette. "Soros has said he wants to bring America down. Flooding the country with Muslim aliens who won't assimilate is one way to do that."
In a Seattle suit, separate from the Washington State case, ABC News reported the American Immigration Council, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild filed a class action complaint on behalf of lawful permanent residents that want their immediate family members that are citizens of the seven countries be able to enter the United States.
Soros' Open Society Foundations gave $425,000 to the American Immigration Council from 2011 through 2013, according to the CRC, which shows Soros' group also gave at least $50,000 to the National Lawyers Guild.
The fact that a lawsuit is politically motivated doesn't mean it lacks legal merits. Republican attorneys general and conservative groups challenged the Obama administration's executive actions. But as the media plays up emotional stories, no one should try to divorce politics from these legal maneuvers.
http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/s...rump-lawsuits/
Trump: If something happens—blame the judge
WASHINGTON—US President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban faces crucial legal hurdles this week that could determine whether he is able to push through the most far-reaching and controversial policy of his first two weeks in office. In an interview to Fox News, Trump called the nuclear deal struck with Iran in 2015, “the worst deal I’ve ever seen negotiated.” He continued, “That deal, I would have lived with it if they said, OK we’re all together now. But it was just the opposite, it’s like they’re emboldened.” As for the new sanctions, Trump said, “just starting.”
On Monday, the government has a deadline to justify the executive order temporarily barring immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries and the entry of refugees after a federal judge in Seattle blocked it with a temporary restraining order on Friday.
The uncertainty caused by a judge's stay of the ban has opened a window for travelers from the seven affected countries to enter the United States.
Trump and Judge Robart (Photo: AFP, United States Courts, AP)
Trump has reacted with attacks on the federal judge and then the wider court system which he blames for styming his efforts to restrict immigration, a central promise of the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Democrats, meanwhile, sought to use Trump's attacks on the judiciary to raise questions about the independence of his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco over the weekend denied the Trump administration's request for an immediate stay of the federal judge's temporary restraining order that blocked nationwide the implementation of key parts of the travel ban.
Robart and wife were foster parents to child immigrants (Photo: AP, United States Courts)
But the court said it would reconsider the government's request after receiving more information.
The government has until 5pm on Monday to submit additonal legal briefs to the appeals court justifying Trump's executive order. Following that, the court is expected to act quickly, and a decision either way may ultimately result in the case reaching the US Supreme Court. As a candidate, Trump had criticized federal judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was overseeing a case against his Trump University—arguing Curiel could not be impartial because of his Mexican heritage and Trump's vow to crack down on Mexican immigrants.
But by lashing out at James Robart as president, Trump's anti-judiciary stance takes on new importance: it hits at the very heart of the checks and balances system meant to protect the country from government abuse of power.
His critics have said the measures are discriminatory, unhelpful and legally dubious.
Iranian citizen and her grandson in Boston airport (Photo: EPA)
On Sunday, Trump broadened his Twitter attacks on Judge Robart, who issued the temporary stay on Friday. A day earlier, Trump derided Robart, who was appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush, as a "so-called judge."
"Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril," Trump tweeted on Sunday. "If something happens blame him and court system." Trump did not elaborate on what threats the country potentially faced. It is unusual for a sitting president to attack a member of the judiciary.
Vice President Mike Pence defended Trump, even as other Republicans urged the businessman-turned-politician to avoid firing such fusillades against the co-equal judicial branch of government, which the US Constitution designates as a check on the power of the presidency and Congress. A graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and Georgetown University Law Center, Robart spent 30 years in private practice at the law firm now known as Lane Powell, before being appointed to the bench by Bush in 2004.
New York protest against Trumps' Muslim ban (Photo: Reuters)
Douglas Adkins, a private equity investor and former investment banker who has known Robart since childhood, said Robart and his wife have no children but have been foster parents to several immigrant children over the years, primarily from Southeast Asia. Robart could not be reached for comment.
The judge served in the past as the president of the Seattle Children's Home and was a former trustee of the Children's Home Society of Washington, according to his official biography on the federal court website. Those organizations provide mental health services for at-risk youth and help troubled families.
"His involvement with children may have helped contribute to his understanding of the people impacted by this ruling but would not have shaped his interpretation of the rule of law," said Paul Lawrence, who was one of the attorneys who filed an amicus brief backing Washington State in the immigration case.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...918255,00.html
In other news...
Saudi Arabia deported 39,000 Pakistanis in last four months: report
Dawn
More than 39,000 Pakistanis have been deported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in the past four months, reported Saudi Gazette on Tuesday.
Referring to the security sources, the Saudi newspaper in its report said that the deportations were made for "violating the rules of residence and work".
The report also said that the involvement of several Pakistani nationals in "some terrorist actions" orchestrated by the militant Islamic State (IS) group as well as crimes of drug trafficking, thefts, forgery and physical assault prompted calls for thorough scrutiny of Pakistanis aspiring to work in Saudi Arabia.
"Abdullah Al-Sadoun, chairman of the security committee of the Shoura Council, called for thoroughly scrutinising the Pakistanis before they are recruited for work in the Kingdom," the report said.
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Furthermore, the Shoura Council chairman also asked for more closer coordination with the concerned authorities in Pakistan to thoroughly check those coming to work in the Kingdom due to the involvement of a number of Pakistanis in security issues.
“Pakistan itself is plagued with terrorism due to its close proximity with Afghanistan. The Taliban extremist movement was itself born in Pakistan," Sadoun was quoted as saying.
Citing the statistics provided by Saudi interior ministry, the report went on to say that 82 Pakistani suspects are currently held in intelligence prisons over charges of terror and other security related issues.
"As many as 15 Pakistanis, including a woman, were nabbed following the recent terrorist operations in Al-Harazat and Al-Naseem districts in Jeddah."
A few months ago, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had released a report, "Labour Migration from Pakistan: 2015 Status Report" showing that 131,643 Pakistani migrants were deported from Saudi Arabia between 2012-15.
According to the report, most of the individuals deported from Saudi Arabia were job seekers and businessmen. The report had also claimed that a large number of migrant workers were stranded abroad due to "lack of proper documentation and thus deported".
The largest number of stranded Pakistanis at 882,887 was deported from Jeddah during the years 2005-06 to 2014-15.
Another media report suggested that Saudi Arabia deported 50,262 foreigners for violating work and residence regulations during last two months of 2014.
In 2013 alone, Saudi authorities had reportedly deported more than 700,000 foreigners for violating work and residence laws and foiled more than 290,000 attempts by infiltrators to enter the kingdom illegally.
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Pro Wall Chant Met with Immediate Investigation at Saint John's University Over Social Media Video
February 07, 2017 06:23 PM
Local community members are reacting to a video circulating social
media depicting possible Saint John's University students chanting, "Build that wall" on a bus.
It's only a six-second video, but with more than 30,000 views it's caught the attention of nearly everyone on the campuses of St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict
Rallies held Tuesday afternoon turned the discussion toward diversity, asking others to build bridges, rather than walls. Organizer Gladys Gutierrez said the rally was already being put together when the video surfaced.
"The situation we are in, the political climate that we are in right now - we have to be bigger than that," Gutierrez said.
Wikimedia Commons, File
Others said the outrage has gotten out of control, threatening free speech.
"It's free speech until it hurts someone's feelings," student Matthew Adler said. "Then, it's not free speech anymore. It's hate speech, which I think is kind of backwards."
University officials said the video was filmed on the Link, which is an inter-campus bus. Student Zach Kennedy said it's certainly not the place to shout political views.
"There's no way that those people on the bus, if they had opposing viewpoints or if they just didn't want to be a part of it, they had no place to leave," Kennedy said.
Father Doug Mullin, the Vice President of Student Development, echoed that point in a letter to students. He encouraged discourse, but in a more sensitive way.
"I think the challenge for us is building dialogue in the midst of a campus and a country where people are really divided from each other," said Mullin.
Mullin went on to say that he found the video insensitive, and that an investigation is underway.
In the meantime, the students rallying crafted a list of demands for the administration. It includes compiling a more diverse faculty and staff, as well as holding students accountable for hate speech.
http://kstp.com/news/saint-johns-university-investigation-social-media-build-that-wall/4393393/?cat=1
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Royal Oak Middle School
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Jeanine Pirro slammed Judge James Robart, the judge who has put a halt on Travel Ban
Published on Feb 5, 2017
"No one - no one - has the right to enter the United States unless he or she is a citizen of the United States."
Last night on "Justice," Judge Jeanine Pirro slammed Judge James Robart, the judge who has put a halt on President Donald J. Trump's travel ban.
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