Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Thursday blasted a ruling rejecting the Trump administration’s request to revive President Trump’s travel ban, referring to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as “the most notoriously left-wing court in America.”
In one of the first GOP responses to the San Francisco-based appeals court’s decision, Cotton called the ruling “misguided” while asserting Trump’s constitutional authority to bar refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
“President Trump’s order to temporarily pause the refugee program and travel from seven war-torn countries is plainly legal under the Constitution and our immigration laws,” Cotton said in a statement.
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“No foreigner has a constitutional right to enter the United States and courts ought not second-guess sensitive national-security decisions of the president,” he added.
Cotton also noted that the 9th Circuit Court’s rulings are those most frequently overturned by the Supreme Court.
“This misguided ruling is from the Ninth Circuit, the most notoriously left-wing court in America and the most reversed court at the Supreme Court,” he said. “I’m confident the administration’s position will ultimately prevail.”
The court ruled Thursday evening that previously barred citizens of the seven countries — Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Somalia — could continue to enter the U.S., refusing to reinstate Trump’s executive order, which was halted by a federal judge in Seattle last week.
Trump responded swiftly to the ruling, calling the decision “political” and tweeting, “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”