US President Donald Trump says the United States will never be safe if his government loses a court battle over his travel ban blocking the entry of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.
“If the US does not win this case as it so obviously should, we can never have the security and safety to which we are entitled," the new president said in tweet on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, lawyers with Justice Department and opposing attorneys for the states of Washington and Minnesota offered their legal arguments before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California, on whether or not Trump’s travel ban against citizens from Iran, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Sudan was constitutional.
Upon signing an executive order to authorize the ban in January 27, Trump said he was trying to keep what he called “radical Islamic terrorists” out of the country.
However, chaos ensued at many US airports after immigration officers indiscriminately detained foreign nationals as they arrived on American soil.
Besides the 90-day entry ban on people from the seven aforementioned countries, Trump’s order also halted all refugee admissions for four months and banned Syrian refugees indefinitely.
Even children fell victim to the cruel treatment, an issue that came into highlight following the hours-long detention of a 5-year-old Iranian boy at an airport in Washington.
In another instance, the parents of a 1-year-old Iraqi boy were not allowed to join their son, who was sent to the US for treatment after suffering serious burns at a refugee camp.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended the maltreatment of children, arguing that “age and gender” did not determine a person’s “security risk.”
Thousands of Americans have also expressed their opposition to the ban by staging demonstrations and running online campaigns.
Responding to the controversial measure, US Federal Judge James Robart issued a ruling last Friday, ordering a temporary nationwide halt to Trump’s travel ban.
However, the White House insisted that the president’s decision was “lawful and appropriate” and said the US Justice Department would appeal to stop the judge’s order from taking effect.
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