Shortly after President -Elect Donald Trump's inauguration the new President of the United States wasted no time getting to business with an executive order banning Muslim immigrants and refugees.
At the time there was no clear definition as to what his executive order actually meant for immigration in general. Given this, legal residents and approved visa holders alike were having visas revoked, refused entry or being detained.
One instance that comes to mind was when an Iraqi national who was granted asylum for his work with U.S. troops as an interpreter was denied entry upon arrival to the U.S. "Iraqi and Afghan refugees who helped U.S. war efforts were among those detained at airports Friday night after President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting Muslims and refugees" (Willa & Murdock 1).
As chaos erupted across the country families of those involved obtained lawyers, and legal groups set about filing lawsuits with the federal courts to stop immediate removal of those detained.
Since the lawyers filed suit with the federal courts to halt all proceedings of the order, the courts were then obligated to address it. Pending a review the judicial branch asserted their rights under the checks and balance system by, "temporarily blocking the federal government from removing or detaining anyone with a valid immigrant or non-immigrant visas, approved refugee applications, or lawful permanent residents under the executive order" (Ford 1).
Still some may have disputed their actions claiming that his Presidential power alone would permit him to invoke such an order, especially when pertaining to matters of national security.
And although this may be true, one can't help but observe this as a perfect example of the checks and balance system at work. In the end after a hearing on the matter a federal judge finally ruled that the Presidents order was in fact unconstitutional and his travel ban must now be revised. Currently, President Trump's new travel ban has been proposed and is pending an outcome.
Works Cited:
Willa, Frej, and Sebastian Murdock. "Iraqis and Afghans Who Helped U.S. Among First Detained Under Trumps Plan." Politics.
Ford, Matt. "The Legal Battle over Trump's Muslim Immigration Order." Politics. Atlantic Media Company, 29 Jan. 2017.