Graham: Trump should take travel ban issue to Supreme Court

Sen Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday he would support President Trump appealing to the Supreme Court after a judge blocked his revised travel ban.

“With all due respect to the judges involved, I believe the new Executive Order — requiring more vetting and limiting visas from at-risk nations — will prevail on appeal,” Graham said in a statement. “It’s not a Muslim ban.” 

Graham, who voiced concerns about Trump’s first travel ban, which was broader and also blocked by the courts, said the president’s revised executive order “falls within the authority of the President to control lawful entry into our nation.”

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“The nations in question have become more unstable over time, not less,” Graham said. “This has now become a referendum on the ability of the Commander in Chief to make national security policy and I support taking this issue all the way the Supreme Court.”

A federal judge in Hawaii on Wednesday blocked Trump’s revised order nationwide, delivering a major blow to the president’s policy just hours before it was set to go into effect.

The temporary restraining order, which will be in place while the judge considers the case, blocks the major components of the travel ban, including suspending the U.S. refugee resettlement program for four months and blocking nationals from six majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days. 

A federal judge in Maryland early Thursday also blocked parts of the president’s revised travel order.

Trump, speaking shortly after the Hawaii decision on Wednesday evening, vowed to fight the ruling.