Joining the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and using President Donald Trump’s tweets to support its decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Hawaii v. Trump has continued to block the revised travel ban.

Unlike the Fourth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit did not rule on constitutional grounds. The unanimous three-judge panel ruled on statutory grounds and held that the government did not show “sufficient justification to suspend the entry of more than 180 million people on the basis of nationality.”

The Court opined that there was no showing that allowing the entry of individuals from the six banned countries and allowing the entry of refugees would be detrimental.

The Ninth Circuit, however, narrowed the scope of the Hawaii District Court’s injunction to allow the government to continue with its review of the vetting procedures in foreign countries – something that the Trump Administration had claimed was equally deleterious. The lifting of this part of the injunction could lead to more stringent vetting of visa applicants. The government has asked the Supreme Court to stay both the Fourth Circuit’s and the Ninth Circuit’s injunctions. We await the Supreme Court’s first word on these cases.