Trump admin withdraws appeal over first travel ban order

The Trump administration has withdrawn its appeal to a ruling halting President Trump’s first travel ban executive order after he signed a revised order on Monday.

The administration had vowed to fight the ruling after a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift a hold on the order last month.

A filing with the 9th Circuit said lawyers for Trump had moved to dismiss the appeal, and the states of Washington and Minnesota, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, had agreed to let it be dismissed.

Trump Administration WITHDRAWS APPEAL of restraining order pic.twitter.com/U6ivBIiDOW

— WA Attorney General (@AGOWA) March 8, 2017

{mosads}“The Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw their appeal — and pay our costs — confirms what I said yesterday: The President’s original travel ban was unconstitutional,” Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) said in a statement Tuesday.

“Contrary to President Trump’s indefensible criticisms of the judiciary, his concession today admits that Judge Robart got it right when he enjoined the original Executive Order.”

The suit from Washington and Minnesota is still pending before U.S. District Court Judge James Robart, the Seattle-based judge who had originally blocked key parts of Trump’s initial order in late January.

The Trump administration dropped the appeal a day after Trump signed a revised order, which relaxed provisions on current visa holders and dropped Iraq from the countries affected by a temporary travel ban.

The revised order also removed a provision indefinitely banning Syrian refugees, while keeping in place a provision halting the U.S. refugee resettlement program for four months.

Politico first reported the move Tuesday.