At approximately 3:45 PST, U.S.
District Judge James Robart of the Western District of Washington (located in
Seattle) issued a Temporary Restraining Order that blocks any implementation of
the EO. This restraining order has immediate, nationwide effect, as
opposed to prior court orders that were specific to certain visa classes,
airports, or individuals and lasted a finite period of time. The Temporary
Restraining Order will remain in effect while the Court hears the merits of the
lawsuit, which maintains the EO is unconstitutional because in both intent and
effect it discriminates on the basis of national origin and religion, and is
motivated by discriminatory animus and bears no rational relationship to its
purported ends of preventing terrorist attacks.
The case was initially brought
by the Attorney General's Office from the State of Washington, was joined by
the State of Minnesota, and is supported by major U.S. corporations located in
the State of Washington, including Microsoft, Expedia, and Amazon. In a
statement following Judge Robart's decision, Attorney General Bob Ferguson
stated, "No one is above the law - not even the
President." According to the Washington Attorney General's office in
their statement, today's Court order negates the Department of State's blanket
"provisional" revocation of all approved and otherwise valid
immigrant and non-immigrant visas for nationals of the seven designated
countries.
We will provide further updates as they become
available. (Source, Ware Immigration Newsletter)
Please note that the information regarding the president's executive order is being regularly updated. OISS is working with our campus partners and professional associations to assess this information as it continues to develop. We recommend consulting an experienced immigration attorney prior to international travel or taking any actions related to your immigration status.
