Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says a second appeals court ruling against President Trump’s revised travel ban this week is actually a “big win” for the administration.
Kelly said on CNN expressed relief the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — which decided on Monday to keep in place a block on the travel ban — had also allowed for the administration to review vetting procedures as the case continues to wind through the courts.
“This is a win for the Trump administration,” Kelly said. “Our ability now to do what we should have been able to do from Day 1, and that is to look at the conditions in every country on the planet, so to speak, and decide which ones is the procedure by which they come to the United States, either as tourists or students as refugees, which ones are where we want to be in terms of determining, A, who they are, and B, why they’re coming to our country. ”
Trump’s executive order would have suspended travel from six predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days to give the administration time to review its vetting procedures.
Last month, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., had ruled again the travel ban in its entirety, preventing the administration from reviewing vetting procedures.
The travel ban case is poised to be resolved in the Supreme Court. The nation’s top court could act as soon as this week on the Trump administration’s request to reinstate the order.
