US President Donald Trump’s tweeting has led to judges rejecting his call for a travel ban.
Trump wants to stop travellers from six mainly Muslim countries from entering the US on the grounds of national security.
The controversial executive order was signed off in March and was challenged in court by opponents of the ban.
Judge Derrick Watson threw out the order as he believed it was unconstitutional to block millions of people from entering the US on the grounds of nationality or likely religion.
The order was redrafted and signed by the president, and promptly challenged again by campaigners arguing against the ban.
No authority for ban
The judges sitting on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California again kicked out the proposal on the grounds Trump had no authority to issue the order without the approval of Congress.
“We conclude that the President, in issuing the Executive Order, exceeded the scope of the authority delegated to him by Congress,” the three judges wrote. “Immigration, even for the President, is not a one-person show.”
The third rejection of the ban leaves Trump in a difficult position.
Theoretically he should be able to pass legislation as he has the support of a Republican majority in Congress.
However, he is acting more like an independent politician governing by declaration through executive orders that bypass debate in Washington.
The orders are a discretionary power that allow the president to direct the federal government to take action.
Extreme vetting at airports
Although thousands of orders have been issued by presidents, only a handful have been overturned by the courts – five of Franklin Roosevelt and one from Bill Clinton.
The travel ban is likely to go before the Supreme Court, which due to holidays and a heavy agenda may not hear the case until November.
“Well, as predicted, the 9th Circuit did it again,” Trump tweeted. “Ruled against the TRAVEL BAN at such a dangerous time in the history of our country. S.C.”
S.C. is assumed to mean Supreme Court.
Trump also revealed immigration officers are ‘extreme vetting’ travellers from countries the proposed ban covered – Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya.
