Houston Press Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 6 a.m. By Meagan Flynn
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday awarded Texas the dubious honor of being the first state to support President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees, primarily from seven countries in the Middle East.
The order was struck down by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which declined to reinstate the travel ban, upholding a lower district court's temporary restraining order against the ban. Trump's executive order suspended the refugee resettlement program for 120 days; banned entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely; and barred anyone from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Libya, from entering for 90 days, while U.S. officials revise the vetting procedures for refugees, particularly those from Syria.
As the Trump Administration mulls its next move, Paxton threw in his two cents yesterday, filing an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit in which he asserts that the court erred in its decision.
“The law makes it very clear that the president has discretion to protect the safety of the American people and our nation’s institutions with respect to who can come into this country,” Paxton said. “The safety of the American people and the security of our country are President Trump’s major responsibilities under the law.”
http://www.houstonpress.com/news/ag-paxton-makes-texas-first-state-to-support-trumps-travel-ban-9202987
