The US government on Monday defended President Donald Trump’s travel ban as a “lawful exercise” of his authority, and urged an appeals court to reinstate the suspended measure in the interests of national security.
Three days after a federal judge put the controversial measure on hold, Justice Department lawyers filed a court brief challenging the nationwide injunction as “vastly overbroad.”
An hour-long telephone hearing has been set for Tuesday at 3:00 pm (2300 GMT) in a high-stakes case that looks increasingly likely to be settled by the Supreme Court.
Two new polls show a majority of Americans now oppose the travel ban on refugees and travelers from seven mostly-Muslim nations, which prompted airport chaos and condemnation around the world — but Trump has shown no sign of bending, pushing back late Monday in a new Twitter salvo.
“The threat from radical Islamic terrorism is very real, just look at what is happening in Europe and the Middle-East. Courts must act fast!” he wrote.
Earlier in the day, during a visit to US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, Trump accused the media of downplaying the terror threat that his administration cites to justify its ban, saying they purposefully ignored jihadist atrocities.
“Today, we deliver a message in one very unified voice to these forces of death and destruction — America and its allies will defeat you. We will defeat them,” he told about 300 military personnel at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
“We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism. And we will not allow it to take root in our country,” Trump added. “Freedom, security and justice will prevail.”
He accused Islamic State fighters of leading a “campaign of genocide, committing atrocities across the world,” and promised an unspecified “historic financial investment” in the US military.
Although he failed to provide evidence of a conspiracy by the media, the White House later distributed a list of 78 attacks it said were “executed or inspired by” the ISIL group, saying most failed to receive adequate media coverage.
However, the claims ignore a large amount of reporting on these attacks by the Takfiri group and its sympathizers in Western countries.
Trump’s decree summarily denied entry to all refugees for 120 days, and travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days — a move critics charge will damage US interests. Refugees from Syria were blocked indefinitely.
The president says the ban is needed to tighten US security against foreign terror threats, citing the September 11, 2001 attacks despite the hijackers having no links to the named countries.
Source: AFP
