FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

STATE OF HAWAII; ISMAIL ELSHIKH, 

Plaintiffs-Appellees, 

 v. 

DONALD J. TRUMP, in his official 

capacity as President of the United States; 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY; JOHN F. KELLY, in his 

official capacity as Secretary of Homeland 

Security; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE; 

REX W. TILLERSON, in his official 

capacity as Secretary of State; UNITED 

STATES OF AMERICA, 

Defendants-Appellants.

No. 17-15589 

D.C. No. 

1:17-cv-00050-DKW-KSC 

OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of Hawai‘i

Derrick Kahala Watson, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted May 15, 2017

Seattle, Washington

Before: Michael Daly Hawkins, Ronald M. Gould, and Richard A. Paez, Circuit 

Judges.

Per Curiam Opinion

FILED

JUN 12 2017

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
2 

OPINION1

PER CURIAM:

We are asked to delineate the statutory and constitutional limits to the 

President’s power to control immigration in this appeal of the district court’s order 

preliminarily enjoining two sections of Executive Order 13780 (“EO2” or “the 

Order”), “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United 

States.” The Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) gives the President broad 

powers to control the entry of aliens, and to take actions to protect the American 

public. But immigration, even for the President, is not a one-person show. The 

President’s authority is subject to certain statutory and constitutional restraints. 

We conclude that the President, in issuing the Executive Order, exceeded the scope 

of the authority delegated to him by Congress. In suspending the entry of more 

than 180 million nationals from six countries, suspending the entry of all refugees, 

and reducing the cap on the admission of refugees from 110,000 to 50,000 for the 

2017 fiscal year, the President did not meet the essential precondition to exercising 

his delegated authority: The President must make a sufficient finding that the entry 

of these classes of people would be “detrimental to the interests of the United 

States.” Further, the Order runs afoul of other provisions of the INA that prohibit 

 

1 We thank the parties and their counsel, as well as the amici, for their excellent 

briefs and arguments in this case.
3 

nationality-based discrimination and require the President to follow a specific 

process when setting the annual cap on the admission of refugees. On these

statutory bases, we affirm in large part the district court’s order preliminarily 

enjoining Sections 2 and 6 of the Executive Order.

I

A

One week after inauguration and without interagency review, President 

Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 13769 (“EO1”). Exec. Order No. 13769, 

82 Fed. Reg. 8977 (Jan. 27, 2017).2 Entitled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign 

Terrorist Entry Into the United States,” EO1’s stated purpose was to “protect the 

American people from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals admitted to the United 

States.” Id. EO1 recited that “[n]umerous foreign-born individuals have been 

convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001, 

including foreign nationals who entered the United States after receiving visitor, 

student, or employment visas, or who entered through the United States refugee 

resettlement program.” Id.

EO1 mandated two main courses of action to assure that the United States 

remain “vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those approved for 

 

2 EO1 was a predecessor to Executive Order 13780, which is the subject of the 

current appeal.
4 

admission do not intend to harm Americans and that they have no ties to 

terrorism.” Id. In Section 3, the President invoked his authority under 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1182(f) to suspend for 90 days immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the 

United States of nationals from seven majority-Muslim countries: Iraq, Iran, Libya, 

Sudan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. See id. at 8978. In Section 5, the President

immediately suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (“USRAP”) for 120 

days, imposed a ban of indefinite duration on the entry of refugees from Syria, and 

limited the entry of refugees to 50,000 in fiscal year 2017. Id. at 8979. EO1 also 

ordered that changes be made to the refugee screening process “to prioritize 

refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, 

provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual’s 

country of nationality.” Id. EO1 permitted the Secretaries of State and Homeland 

Security to make case-by-case exceptions to these restrictions “when in the 

national interest,” and explained that it would be in the national interest “when the 

person is a religious minority in his country of nationality facing religious 

persecution.” Id. 

EO1 took immediate effect, causing great uncertainty as to the scope of the 

order, particularly in its application to lawful permanent residents. Notably, 

federal officials themselves were unsure as to the scope of EO1, which caused 

mass confusion at airports and other ports of entry. See Brief of the Foundation of 
5 

Children of Iran and Iranian Alliance Across Borders as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 77 

at 11–12 (describing how an Iranian visa holder was turned away while en route to 

the United States because of the confusion regarding the contours of EO1’s scope); 

Brief of Former National Security Officials as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 108 at 25 

n.53 & 54 (noting confusion at airports because officials were neither consulted 

nor informed of EO1 in advance). 

Shortly after EO1 issued, the States of Washington and Minnesota filed suit 

in the Western District of Washington to enjoin EO1. On February 3, 2017, the 

district court granted a temporary restraining order (“TRO”). Washington v. 

Trump, No. C17-0141JLR, 2017 WL 462040 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 3, 2017). On 

February 4, 2017, the Government filed an emergency motion in our court, seeking 

a stay of the TRO pending appeal.

On February 9, 2017, this court denied the Government’s emergency motion 

for a stay of the injunction. Washington v. Trump, 847 F.3d 1151 (9th Cir. 2017) 

(per curiam), reconsideration en banc denied, 853 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2017). In so 

doing, the panel rejected the Government’s arguments that EO1 was wholly 

unreviewable. See id. at 1161–64. After determining that the states had standing 

based on the alleged harms to their proprietary interests, id. at 1159–61, this court

concluded that the states demonstrated a likelihood of success on their procedural 

due process claim, at least as to lawful permanent residents and nonimmigrant visa
6 

holders, id. at 1164–66. The panel did not review the states’ other claims, 

including the statutory-based claims. Id. at 1164.

Rather than continue with the litigation, the Government filed an unopposed 

motion to voluntarily dismiss the underlying appeal after the President signed EO2. 

On March 8, 2017, this court granted that motion, which substantially ended the 

story of EO1. The curtain opens next to the present controversy regarding EO2.

B

On March 6, 2017, the President issued EO2, also entitled “Protecting the 

Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” Exec. Order No. 

13780, 82 Fed. Reg. 13209 (Mar. 6, 2017). The revised Order was to take effect 

on March 16, 2017, at which point EO1 would be revoked. Id. at 13218. The 

Order expressly stated that EO1 “did not provide a basis for discriminating for or 

against members of any particular religion” and was “not motivated by animus 

toward any religion.” Id. at 13210.

Section 2—“Temporary Suspension of Entry for Nationals of Countries of 

Particular Concern During Review Period”—reinstates the 90-day ban on travel for 

nationals of six of the seven majority-Muslim countries identified in EO1: Iran, 

Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Id. at 13213. Section 2 also directs the 

Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, and the Director of 

National Intelligence to “conduct a worldwide review to identify whether, and if so 
7 

what, additional information will be needed from each foreign country to 

adjudicate an application by a national of that country for a visa, admission, or 

other benefit under the INA (adjudications) in order to determine that the 

individual is not a security or public-safety threat.” Id. at 13212. Section 2(c) 

states in full:

To temporarily reduce investigative burdens on relevant agencies 

during the review period described in subsection (a) of this section, to 

ensure the proper review and maximum utilization of available 

resources for the screening and vetting of foreign nationals, to ensure 

that adequate standards are established to prevent infiltration by foreign 

terrorists, and in light of the national security concerns referenced in 

section 1 of this order, I hereby proclaim, pursuant to sections 212(f) 

and 215(a) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. [§§] 1182(f) and 1185(a), that the 

unrestricted entry into the United States of nationals of Iran, Libya, 

Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen would be detrimental to the interests 

of the United States. I therefore direct that the entry into the United 

States of nationals of those six countries be suspended for 90 days from 

the effective date of this order, subject to the limitations, waivers, and 

exceptions set forth in sections 3 and 12 of this order.

Id. at 13213. 

Regarding the six identified countries, EO2 explains:

Each of these countries is a state sponsor of terrorism, has been 

significantly compromised by terrorist organizations, or contains active 

conflict zones. Any of these circumstances diminishes the foreign 

government’s willingness or ability to share or validate important 

information about individuals seeking to travel to the United States. 

Moreover, the significant presence in each of these countries of terrorist 

organizations, their members, and others exposed to those 

organizations increases the chance that conditions will be exploited to 

enable terrorist operatives or sympathizers to travel to the United States. 

Finally, once foreign nationals from these countries are admitted to the 

United States, it is often difficult to remove them, because many of 
8 

these countries typically delay issuing, or refuse to issue, travel 

documents.

Id. at 13210. Based on the conditions of these six countries, “the risk of 

erroneously permitting entry of a national of one of these countries who intends to 

commit terrorist acts or otherwise harm the national security of the United States is 

unacceptably high.” Id. at 13211.

The Order states that it no longer includes Iraq on the list of designated 

countries because of Iraq’s “close cooperative relationship” with the United States 

and its recent efforts to enhance its travel documentation procedures. Id. at 13212. 

The Order also states that its scope has been narrowed from EO1 in response to 

“judicial concerns” about the suspension of entry with respect to certain categories 

of aliens. Id. EO2 applies only to individuals outside of the United States who do 

not have a valid visa as of the issuance of EO1 or EO2. EO2, unlike EO1,

expressly exempts lawful permanent residents, dual citizens traveling under a 

passport issued by a country not on the banned list, asylees, and refugees already 

admitted to the United States. See id. at 13213–14. The Order also provides that 

consular officers or Customs and Border Protection officials can exercise 

discretion in authorizing case-by-case waivers to issue visas and grant entry during 

the suspension period, and offers examples of when waivers “could be 

appropriate.” See id. at 13214–15.

Section 6—“Realignment of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 
9 

Fiscal Year 2017”—suspends USRAP for 120 days. Id. at 13215. During this 

period, the heads of certain executive agencies are directed to review the current 

USRAP application and adjudication processes, and to determine the additional 

procedures that “should” be required for individuals seeking admission as refugees. 

See id. at 13215–16. Invoking 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f), Section 6(b) reduces the 

number of refugees to be admitted from 110,000 to 50,000 in fiscal year 2017. Id. 

at 13216. The Order also removes EO1’s preference for refugees facing 

persecution as a member of a minority religion, and no longer imposes a complete 

ban on Syrian refugees. Section 6 further provides for discretionary case-by-case 

waivers. Id.

EO2 supplies additional information relevant to national security concerns. 

The Order includes excerpts from the State Department’s 2015 Country Reports on 

Terrorism, that it asserts demonstrate “why . . . nationals [from the designated 

countries] continue to present heightened risk to the security of the United States.” 

Id. at 13210; see id. at 13210–11 (providing a brief description of country 

conditions for each of the designated countries). The Order states that foreign 

nationals and refugees have committed acts of terrorism:

Recent history shows that some of those who have entered the United 

States through our immigration system have proved to be threats to our 

national security. Since 2001, hundreds of persons born abroad have 

been convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the United States. They 

have included not just persons who came here legally on visas but also 

individuals who first entered the country as refugees. For example, in 
10 

January 2013, two Iraqi nationals admitted to the United States as 

refugees in 2009 were sentenced to 40 years and to life in prison, 

respectively, for multiple terrorism-related offenses. And in October 

2014, a native of Somalia who had been brought to the United States as 

a child refugee and later became a naturalized United States citizen was 

sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass 

destruction as part of a plot to detonate a bomb at a crowded Christmastree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. The Attorney General has 

reported to me that more than 300 persons who entered the United 

States as refugees are currently the subjects of counterterrorism 

investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Id. at 13212. EO2 does not discuss any instances of domestic terrorism involving 

nationals from Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen. 

C

Two versions of a report from the Department of Homeland Security 

(“DHS”) surfaced after EO1 issued. First, a draft report from DHS, prepared about

one month after EO1 issued and two weeks prior to EO2’s issuance, concluded that 

citizenship “is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity” and 

that citizens of countries affected by EO1 are “[r]arely [i]mplicated in U.S.-[b]ased 

[t]errorism.” Specifically, the DHS report determined that since the spring of 

2011, at least eighty-two individuals were inspired by a foreign terrorist group to 

carry out or attempt to carry out an attack in the United States. Slightly more than

half were U.S. citizens born in the United States, and the remaining persons were 

from twenty-six different countries—with the most individuals originating from 

Pakistan, followed by Somalia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Uzbekistan. 
11 

Id. Of the six countries included in EO2, only Somalia was identified as being 

among the “top” countries-of-origin for the terrorists analyzed in the report. 

During the time period covered in the report, three offenders were from Somalia; 

one was from Iran, Sudan, and Yemen each; and none was from Syria or Libya. 

The final version of the report, issued five days prior to EO2, concluded “that most 

foreign-born, [U.S.]-based violent extremists likely radicalized several years after

their entry to the United States, [thus] limiting the ability of screening and vetting 

officials to prevent their entry because of national security concerns” (emphasis 

added).

The same day EO2 issued, Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III and 

Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly submitted a letter to the President 

recommending that he “direct[] a temporary pause in entry” from countries that are 

“unable or unwilling to provide the United States with adequate information about 

their nationals” or are designated as “state sponsors of terrorism.” 

D

The State of Hawai‘i (“the State”) filed a motion for a TRO seeking to 

enjoin EO1, which the District of Hawai‘i did not rule on because of the 

nationwide TRO entered in the Western District of Washington. After EO2 issued, 

the State filed an amended complaint challenging EO2 in order “to protect its 

residents, its employers, its educational institutions, and its sovereignty.” Dr. 
12 

Elshikh, the Imam of the Muslim Association of Hawai‘i, joined the State’s 

challenge because the Order “inflicts a grave injury on Muslims in Hawai‘i, 

including Dr. Elshikh, his family, and members of his Mosque.” In 2015, Dr. 

Elshikh’s wife filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative on behalf of her mother—

Dr. Elshikh’s mother-in-law—a Syrian national living in Syria. Dr. Elshikh fears 

that his mother-in-law will not be able to enter the United States if EO2 is 

implemented. Plaintiffs named as Defendants Donald J. Trump, in his official 

capacity as President of the United States; the U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security; John F. Kelly, in his official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security; 

the U.S. Department of State; Rex W. Tillerson, in his official capacity as 

Secretary of State; and the United States of America (collectively referred to as 

“the Government”). 

Plaintiffs allege that EO2 suffers similar constitutional and statutory defects 

as EO1 and claim that the Order violates: the Establishment Clause of the First 

Amendment; the equal protection guarantees of the Fifth Amendment’s Due 

Process Clause on the basis of religion and/or national origin, nationality, or 

alienage; the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment based on substantive 

due process rights; the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment based on 

procedural due process rights; the Immigration and Nationality Act; the Religious 

Freedom Restoration Act; and the Administrative Procedure Act. For their INA 
13 

claim, Plaintiffs specifically contend that EO2 violates the INA by discriminating 

on the basis of nationality, ignoring and modifying the statutory criteria for 

determining terrorism-related inadmissibility, and exceeding the President’s 

delegated authority under the INA.3 Plaintiffs also filed a motion for a TRO along 

with their amended complaint. 

On March 15, 2017, the district court granted the TRO, holding that 

Plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their Establishment 

Clause claim, and entered a nationwide injunction prohibiting enforcement of 

Sections 2 and 6 of EO2. See Hawai‘i v. Trump, No. CV 17-00050 DKW-KSC, 

2017 WL 1011673 (D. Haw. Mar. 15, 2017) (“Hawai‘i TRO”). On March 29, 

2017, the district court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to convert the TRO to a 

preliminary injunction. See Hawai‘i v. Trump, No. CV 17-00050 DKW-KSC, 

2017 WL 1167383 (D. Haw. Mar. 29, 2017) (“Hawai‘i PI”). The district court 

declined to narrow the scope of the injunction, concluding that the entirety of 

Sections 2 and 6 of the Order ran afoul of the Establishment Clause and that the 

Government did not provide a workable framework for narrowing the scope of the 

enjoined conduct. See id. at *8. The court entered the following injunction:

Defendants and all their respective officers, agents, servants, 

employees, and attorneys, and persons in active concert or participation 

 

3 On appeal, Plaintiffs also contend that EO2 violates the INA because it ignores 

the codified procedures for setting annual refugee admissions provided in 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1157.
14 

with them, are hereby enjoined from enforcing or implementing 

Sections 2 and 6 of the Executive Order across the Nation. 

Enforcement of these provisions in all places, including the United 

States, at all United States borders and ports of entry, and in the 

issuance of visas is prohibited, pending further orders from this Court.

Id. at *9.

On March 30, 2017, the Government filed a notice of appeal. This court 

granted the Government’s unopposed motion to expedite the case. The 

Government requests that this court vacate the preliminary injunction, or at least 

narrow the injunction, and also stay the injunction pending appeal.

II

The district court held that Plaintiffs were entitled to preliminary relief 

because they had made a strong showing of success on the merits of their 

Establishment Clause claim. Applying the secular purpose test from Lemon v. 

Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612–13 (1971), and relying on the historical record that 

contained “significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus driving the 

promulgation of the Executive Order,” the district court concluded that EO2 was 

issued with an intent to disfavor people of Islamic faith. See Hawai‘i TRO, 2017 

WL 1011673, at *12–16. In so doing, the district court decided an important and 

controversial constitutional claim without first expressing its views on Plaintiffs’ 

statutory claims, including their INA-based claim. See id. at *11 n.11.

 The INA claim was squarely before the district court and briefed and argued 
15 

before this court. Mindful of the Supreme Court’s admonition that “courts should 

be extremely careful not to issue unnecessary constitutional rulings,” 

“[p]articularly where, as here, a case implicates the fundamental relationship 

between the Branches,” we think it appropriate to turn first to the INA claim. Am. 

Foreign Serv. Ass’n v. Garfinkel, 490 U.S. 153, 161 (1989) (per curiam); accord

Lying v. Nw. Indian Cemetery Protective Ass’n, 485 U.S. 439, 445 (1988) (“A 

fundamental and longstanding principle of judicial restraint requires that courts 

avoid reaching constitutional questions in advance of the necessity of deciding 

them.”).

After first determining that Plaintiffs have standing to assert their INA-based

statutory claim, we conclude that Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on 

the merits of that claim and that the district court’s preliminary injunction order 

can be affirmed in large part based on statutory grounds. For reasons further 

explained below, we need not, and do not, reach the Establishment Clause claim to 

resolve this appeal. See Ashwander v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 297 U.S. 288, 347 

(1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring) (“[I]f a case can be decided on either of two 

grounds, one involving a constitutional question, the other a question of statutory 

construction or general law, the Court will decide only the latter.”). 

III

Before turning to our review of Plaintiffs’ statutory claim, we first address 
16 

the Government’s challenge to the preliminary injunction order on justiciability 

grounds. The Government contends both that Plaintiffs lack standing to pursue 

this case and that the case is not yet ripe. The Government further contends that 

the consular nonreviewability doctrine bars this court from reviewing EO2. We 

address each contention in turn.

A

“Article III of the Constitution limits federal-court jurisdiction to ‘Cases’ 

and ‘Controversies.’” Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 516 (2007). “Standing 

to sue is a doctrine rooted in the traditional understanding of a case or controversy”

and limits who may “maintain a lawsuit in federal court to seek redress for a legal 

wrong.” Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540, 1547 (2016). “[T]o satisfy 

Article III’s standing requirements, a plaintiff must show (1) it has suffered an 

‘injury in fact’ that is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent, 

not conjectural or hypothetical; (2) the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged 

action of the defendant; and (3) it is likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that 

the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.” Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. 

Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 180–81 (2000) (citing Lujan v. 

Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560–61 (1992)). “At this very preliminary stage of 

the litigation, [Plaintiffs] may rely on the allegations in their [amended complaint]

and whatever other evidence they submitted in support of their [preliminary 
17 

injunction] motion to meet their burden.” Washington, 847 F.3d at 1159; see 

Lujan, 504 U.S. at 561. 

The district court determined that both the State of Hawai‘i and Dr. Elshikh 

have standing to pursue their Establishment Clause claim. See Hawai‘i TRO, 2017 

WL 1011673, at *7–10. The Government argues that Plaintiffs fail to satisfy the 

requirements of Article III standing to bring their Establishment Clause claim. 

Plaintiffs must establish standing for each of their claims. DaimlerChrysler Corp. 

v. Cuno, 547 U.S. 332, 352 (2006). As we do not reach Plaintiffs’ Establishment 

Clause claim, we address only whether Plaintiffs have standing to challenge EO2 

based on their INA-based statutory claim and conclude that they do. 

1

Dr. Elshikh is an American citizen of Egyptian descent. He alleges that EO2 

will prevent his mother-in-law from obtaining a visa to reunite with her family. 

His mother-in-law is a Syrian national currently living in Syria; she last visited her 

family in Hawai‘i in 2005 and has not yet met two of her five grandchildren. Dr. 

Elshikh’s wife filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative on behalf of her mother in 

September 2015, and the petition was approved in February 2016. After EO1 

issued, Dr. Elshikh was told that his mother-in-law’s visa application for an 

immigrant visa had been put on hold. After EO1 was enjoined, he was notified 

that the application had progressed to the next stage of the process, and that her 
18 

interview would be scheduled at an embassy overseas. Dr. Elshikh understandably 

and reasonably fears that EO2 will prevent his mother-in-law from entering the 

country.4 Dr. Elshikh asserts that he has standing based on the barriers EO2 

imposes in preventing him from reuniting his mother-in-law with his family.

This court and the Supreme Court have reviewed the merits of cases brought 

by U.S. residents with a specific interest in the entry of a foreigner. See, e.g., 

Kerry v. Din, 135 S. Ct. 2128, 2131 (2015) (involving a challenge by a U.S. citizen 

to the denial of her husband’s visa); Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753, 756–60 

(1972) (addressing a challenge by American professors to the denial of a visa to a 

journalist they had invited to speak at several academic events); Cardenas v. 

United States, 826 F.3d 1164, 1167 (9th Cir. 2016) (determining that a U.S. citizen 

could challenge the denial of her husband’s visa). Most similar to this case, in 

Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers v. Department of State, Bureau of 

Consular Affairs, the D.C. Circuit determined that visa sponsors had standing to 

assert that the State Department’s refusal to process visa applications of 

 

4 Dr. Elshikh also alleges that EO2 results in a disfavored religion in Hawai‘i and 

the United States; that the Order communicates to his five children that their own 

country discriminates against individuals who share their ethnicity and religious 

beliefs; and that the Order has caused members of the Islamic community in 

Hawai‘i, including members of his mosque, to feel that Muslim citizens are 

targeted because of their religion and national origin. For purposes of determining 

standing to pursue the INA-based statutory claim, we need not address these 

aspects of Dr. Elshikh’s injury. 
19 

Vietnamese citizens living in Hong Kong violated 8 U.S.C. § 1152. 45 F.3d 469, 

471–73 (D.C. Cir. 1995), vacated on other grounds, 519 U.S. 1 (1996). The court 

explained that the State Department’s actions prolonged the separation of 

immediate family members, which resulted in injury to the sponsors. Id. 

Dr. Elshikh seeks to reunite his mother-in-law with his family and similarly 

experiences prolonged separation from her. By suspending the entry of nationals 

from the six designated countries, including Syria, EO2 operates to delay or 

prevent the issuance of visas to nationals from those countries, including Dr. 

Elshikh’s mother-in-law. Dr. Elshikh has alleged a concrete harm because EO2, 

specifically the operation of Section 2, is a barrier to reunification with his motherin-law in light of her stalled visa process. See id. (holding that U.S. resident 

sponsors had standing to challenge the State Department’s refusal to process visa 

applications); Int’l Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump, — F.3d —–, No. 17-

1351, 2017 WL 2273306, at *10 (4th Cir. May 25, 2017) (en banc), as amended

(May 31, 2017) (identifying prolonged separation between plaintiff and his wife as 

a concrete harm). That his mother-in-law’s visa application process was placed on 

hold when EO1 took effect, but moved forward when EO1 was enjoined, further 

shows that Dr. Elshikh’s injury is concrete, real, and immediate if EO2 takes

effect. Dr. Elshikh has thus alleged a sufficient injury-in-fact. While not 

challenged by the Government, it is also clear that Dr. Elshikh has established 
20 

causation and redressability. His injuries are fairly traceable to the Order,

satisfying causation, and enjoining EO2 will remove a barrier to reunification and 

redress that injury, satisfying redressability. 

Dr. Elshikh has met the requirements for constitutional standing with respect 

to the INA-based statutory claim.

2

The State of Hawai‘i alleges two primary theories of harm in asserting its 

standing: harm to its proprietary interests and impairment of its sovereign interests.

“[L]ike other associations and private parties, a State is bound to have a 

variety of proprietary interests. A State may, for example, own land or participate 

in a business venture.” Alfred L. Snapp & Son, Inc. v. Puerto Rico ex rel. Barez, 

458 U.S. 592, 601 (1982). “And like other such proprietors [the State] may at 

times need to pursue those interests in court.” Id. at 601–02.

The State asserts that it has standing because of the injuries inflicted on its 

university. The University of Hawai‘i (“the University”), which the State operates, 

has twenty-three graduate students, at least twenty-nine visiting faculty members,

and other permanent faculty members from the six countries designated in EO2. 

The State asserts that EO2 constrains the University’s ability to recruit and enroll 

undergraduate and graduate students, and recruit and hire visiting faculty from the 

affected countries. The State also contends that EO2 threatens the University’s 
21 

ability to fulfill its educational mission by hampering recruitment of diverse 

students, preventing scholars from considering employment at the University, 

dissuading current professors and scholars from continuing their scholarship at the 

University, hindering the free flow of ideas, and harming its values of

inclusiveness and tolerance. 

Given the timing of the admissions cycle and this litigation, the State 

concedes that it is too soon to determine the full impact on recruitment, but asserts

that individuals who are not current visa holders or lawful permanent residents 

would be precluded from considering the University. In its opposition brief, the 

State gave updated information, explaining that eleven graduate students from the 

countries affected by the Order have been admitted, and the University was still 

considering applications from twenty-one other affected applicants. After the case 

was submitted, Plaintiffs supplemented the record with further updates on the 

University’s admissions cycle.

5 At least three graduate students, each from one of 

the six designated countries, have accepted their offers of admission and have 

committed to attending the University. There are eleven graduate student 

applicants, each from one of the six designated countries, with pending offers of 

admission for the 2017–18 school year. University classes begin on August 21, 

 

5 The Government did not oppose Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to supplement the 

record, and we granted the motion.
22 

2017, but at least two of the students who have accepted their offers of admission

must be present on campus by August 1, 2017 and August 10, 2017, respectively, 

for their graduate programs. The State further explains that if EO2 takes effect 

now, these students’ ability to obtain visas will be impeded.

Before Plaintiffs supplemented the record, the Government argued that the 

State had not identified any prospective student or faculty member who wished to 

enter the country during Section 2(c)’s 90-day period. However, the State’s 

alleged harm is that EO2 presently constrains their recruitment efforts for students 

and faculty, and that EO2 deters prospective students and faculty members. Given 

the short admissions cycle—from when the University offers admissions to when 

international students must decide whether to attend—and the uncertainty of 

whether EO2 will inhibit their ability to secure a visa before the fall semester 

begins, EO2’s deterrent effect is an injury that is “concrete” and “imminent,” as 

opposed to merely “speculative.” See Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560–61 (internal 

quotation marks omitted). Of course, a student who is not permitted to obtain a 

visa and enter our country would not accept an offer of admission. 

The Government next contends that Plaintiffs cannot rely on events that 

unfolded after the filing of the complaint to establish standing. This argument is 

not persuasive. The State had previously contended that its recruitment was 

constrained by EO2 and its supplemental declaration merely provides greater detail 
23 

regarding the students who may be unable to join the academic community this fall 

if EO2 takes effect. We consider the supplemental information as further evidence 

that EO2 will harm the State because students affected by Section 2(c) may not 

attend the University, and the University will lose tuition and educational benefits. 

The State’s standing can thus be grounded in its proprietary interests as an 

operator of the University. EO2 harms the State’s interests because (1) students 

and faculty suspended from entry are deterred from studying or teaching at the 

University; and (2) students who are unable to attend the University will not pay 

tuition or contribute to a diverse student body. See Washington, 847 F.3d at 1161 

(holding that states, as operators of universities, had Article III standing to 

challenge EO1 based on harms to their proprietary interests); Texas v. United 

States, 809 F.3d 134, 155–63 (5th Cir. 2015), as revised (Nov. 25, 2015), aff’d by 

an equally divided Court, 136 S. Ct. 2271 (2016) (holding that the state of Texas 

had standing to challenge the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and 

Lawful Permanent Residents (“DAPA”) program based on its alleged injury of 

subsidizing driver’s licenses to DAPA beneficiaries). We further conclude that the 

State has shown that its injury is fairly traceable to EO2 and that enjoining EO2

would redress its harm.

The State also presents an alternative standing theory: that the Order impairs 

its sovereign interests in carrying out its refugee policies, among other things. A 
24 

state has an interest in its “exercise of sovereign power over individuals and 

entities within the relevant jurisdiction,” which “involves the power to create and 

enforce a legal code.” Alfred L. Snapp & Son, 458 U.S. at 601. The State contends

that EO2 hinders the exercise of its sovereign power to enforce its laws and 

policies and this inflicts an injury sufficient to provide the State standing to 

challenge the Order. The State has laws protecting equal rights, barring

discrimination, and fostering diversity. See, e.g., Haw. Const. art. 1, §§ 2, 5; Haw. 

Rev. Stat. §§ 489-3, 515-3. Specific to refugees, the State created the Office of 

Community Services (“OCS”), which is directed to “[a]ssist and coordinate the 

efforts of all public and private agencies providing services which affect the 

disadvantaged, refugees, and immigrants.” Haw. Rev. Stat. § 371K-4. OCS 

operates multiple programs for refugees. 

The State has resettled three refugees this fiscal year, and at least twenty 

since 2010. EO2 would prevent the State from assisting with refugee resettlement 

and thus prevent it from effectuating its policies aimed at assisting refugee and 

immigrant populations. See id. The State’s requested injunctive relief would 

permit it to assist in the resettlement of refugees, at least through fiscal year 2017. 

As the State exercises “sovereign power over individuals and entities within the 

relevant jurisdiction” in administering OCS, we conclude, at this preliminary stage, 

that the State has made sufficient allegations to support standing to challenge the 
25 

refugee-related provisions of EO2. See Alfred L. Snapp & Son, 458 U.S. at 601; 

see also Virginia ex rel. Cuccinelli v. Sebelius, 656 F.3d 253, 269 (4th Cir. 2011) 

(collecting cases where state was found to possess sovereign standing based on 

state statutes that regulated behavior or provided for the administration of a state 

program). 

Concluding that Dr. Elshikh and the State have satisfied Article III’s 

standing requirements,6 we turn to whether Plaintiffs are within the “zone of 

interests” protected by the INA. 

3

Because Plaintiffs allege a statutory claim, we must determine whether they 

meet the requirement of having interests that “fall within the zone of interests 

protected by the law invoked.” Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, 

Inc., 134 S. Ct. 1377, 1388 (2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). 

We have little trouble determining that Dr. Elshikh is within the zone of 

interests of the INA to challenge EO2 based on this statutory claim. He asserts that 

the travel ban prevents his mother-in-law from reuniting with his family. See 

 

6 The State has asserted other proprietary interests, including the loss of tourism 

revenue. The State also appears to present a standing theory based on its quasisovereign interests, as parens patriae, to secure its residents from the harmful 

effects of discrimination. We do not reach these arguments because we conclude 

that the State’s proprietary interests, as an operator of the University of Hawai‘i, 

and its sovereign interests, in carrying out its refugee programs and policies, are 

sufficient to confer standing. See Washington, 847 F.3d at 1161 n.5.
26 

Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers, 45 F.3d at 471–72 (“The INA 

authorizes the immigration of family members of United States citizens and 

permanent resident aliens. In originally enacting the INA, Congress implemented 

the underlying intention of our immigration laws regarding the preservation of the 

family unit. Given the nature and purpose of the statute, the resident appellants fall 

well within the zone of interest Congress intended to protect.” (internal quotation 

marks, citations, and alterations omitted)). 

Likewise, the State’s efforts to enroll students and hire faculty members who 

are nationals from the six designated countries fall within the zone of interests of 

the INA. The INA makes clear that a nonimmigrant student may be admitted into 

the United States. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(F) (identifying students qualified to 

pursue a full course of study); 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(f) (providing the requirements for 

nonimmigrant students, including those in colleges and universities). The INA 

also provides that nonimmigrant scholars and teachers may be admitted into the 

United States. See, e.g., 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(J) (identifying students, scholars, 

trainees, teachers, professors, research assistants, specialists, or leaders in fields of 

specialized knowledge or skill); id. § 1101(a)(15)(H) (identifying aliens coming to 

perform services in a specialty occupation); id. § 1101(a)(15)(O) (identifying 

aliens with extraordinary abilities in the sciences, arts, education, business, or 

athletics). International students and visiting faculty may qualify for F-1 visas, J-1 
27 

visas, H-1B visas, or O-1 visas. See Directory of Visa Categories, U.S. Dep’t of 

State, https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/all-visa-categories.html (last 

visited June 6, 2017). The INA leaves no doubt that the State’s interests in 

student- and employment-based visa petitions for its students and faculty are 

related to the basic purposes of the INA. 

The State’s interest in effectuating its refugee resettlement policies and 

programs also falls within the zone of interests protected by the INA. See 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1101(a)(42) (defining “refugees”); id. § 1157 (providing the procedure for 

determining the number of refugee admissions). These provisions of the INA were 

amended to provide a “systematic procedure” for the admission of refugees into 

the United States, as well as “uniform provisions for the effective resettlement and 

absorption of those refugees who are admitted.” Refugee Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 

96-212, § 101, 94 Stat. 102 (1980). The State argues that EO2 upsets this finelytuned system devised by Congress.

We conclude that Plaintiffs’ claims of injury as a result of the alleged 

statutory violations are, at the least, “arguably within the zone of interests” that the 

INA protects.7 Bank of Am. Corp. v. City of Miami, Fla., 137 S. Ct. 1296, 1303 

 

7 The Government also argues that third party prudential standing limitations 

counsel against this court deciding Plaintiffs’ Establishment Clause claim. To the 

extent this argument applies to Plaintiffs’ INA-based statutory claim, we reject it 

because Plaintiffs have shown that they have suffered injuries as a result of EO2.
28 

(2017) (quoting Ass’n of Data Processing Serv. Orgs., Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 

153 (1970)). 

Plaintiffs have standing to assert their INA-based statutory claim that EO2 

exceeds the scope of the President’s authority under the INA and conflicts with 

various INA provisions.

B

The Government next argues that Plaintiffs’ claims are speculative and not 

ripe. “Ripeness is peculiarly a question of timing, designed to prevent the courts, 

through avoidance of premature adjudication, from entangling themselves in 

abstract disagreements.” Stormans, Inc. v. Selecky, 586 F.3d 1109, 1122 (9th Cir. 

2009) (internal quotations marks and alteration omitted). “Our role is neither to 

issue advisory opinions nor to declare rights in hypothetical cases, but to adjudicate 

live cases or controversies consistent with the powers granted the judiciary in 

Article III of the Constitution.” Thomas v. Anchorage Equal Rights Comm’n, 220 

F.3d 1134, 1138 (9th Cir. 2000).

We are unpersuaded by the Government’s arguments that until a student or 

faculty member requests a waiver and it is denied, or until Dr. Elshikh’s mother-inlaw requests a waiver and she is denied,8 Plaintiffs injuries are not ripe because 

 

8 The Government needlessly argues that travel conditions in Syria make it 

speculative that Dr. Elshikh’s mother-in-law would have made her application 
29 

they assume “contingent future events that may not occur.” Texas v. United States, 

523 U.S. 296, 300 (1998) (internal quotation marks omitted)). 

Although the waiver may, in theory, provide students, visiting faculty 

members, or Dr. Elshikh’s mother-in-law an opportunity to obtain visas, the waiver 

is discretionary. Indeed, no one can count on it. The Order poses hardships to 

nationals from the six designated countries by barring throughout the suspension 

period their ability to obtain visas. The waiver provision neither guarantees that 

waivers will be granted nor provides a process for applying for a waiver; 

moreover, the ultimate decision is clearly committed to a consular officer’s 

discretion. See 82 Fed. Reg. at 13214 (“Case-by-case waivers could be 

appropriate in circumstances such as the following . . . .”) (emphasis added); id. at 

13219 (stating that nothing in the Order provides any “enforceable” rights). The 

discretionary waiver is not “a sufficient safety valve,” Washington, 847 F.3d at 

1169, and is a far cry from the “contingent future” argued by the Government. 

Here, nationals from the six designated countries, including Dr. Elshikh’s motherin-law and students who have accepted, or been offered, admission to the 

University of Hawai‘i, are burdened by EO2 because they are not permitted entry,

 

interview scheduled for May 24, 2017. This argument does not diminish Dr. 

Elshikh’s argument that the Order’s suspension of entry of nationals from the six 

designated countries creates a significant obstacle to reuniting his mother-in-law 

with him and his family.
30 

and whether they might obtain a waiver is speculative and at the discretion of a 

consular officer or a Customs and Border Protection official. See 82 Fed. Reg. at 

13214. 

We decline the Government’s invitation to wait until Plaintiffs identify a 

visa applicant who was denied a discretionary waiver to assess whether Plaintiffs 

have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims. Regardless of 

whether Dr. Elshikh’s mother-in-law or the University’s prospective students and 

faculty members might conceivably obtain such a waiver, they will face substantial 

hardship if we were to first require that they try to obtain a waiver before we will 

consider their case. Cf. Abbott Labs. v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 149 (1967). We 

conclude that the claim is ripe for review. 

C

Finally, the Government renews the argument it made before this court in 

Washington v. Trump that we may not review EO2 because the consular 

nonreviewability doctrine counsels that the decision to issue or withhold a visa is 

not subject to judicial review. See Li Hing of Hong Kong, Inc. v. Levin, 800 F.2d 

970, 971 (9th Cir. 1986) (“[I]t has been consistently held that the consular 

official’s decision to issue or withhold a visa is not subject either to administrative 

or judicial review.”). We reject this argument. 

Plaintiffs do not seek review of an individual consular officer’s decision to 
31 

grant or to deny a visa pursuant to valid regulations, which could implicate the 

consular nonreviewability doctrine. Plaintiffs instead challenge “the President’s 

promulgation of sweeping immigration policy.” Washington, 847 F.3d at 1162. 

Courts can and do review both constitutional and statutory “challenges to the 

substance and implementation of immigration policy.” Id. at 1163; see, e.g., Sale 

v. Haitian Ctrs. Council, Inc., 509 U.S. 155, 187–88 (1993) (addressing the merits 

of a challenge that an executive order violated the INA and the United Nations

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees); INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 

940–41 (1983) (addressing whether a section of the INA that authorized one House 

of Congress to invalidate a decision of the Executive to allow a deportable alien to 

remain in the United States was unconstitutional).

This case is justiciable because Plaintiffs seek judicial review of EO2, 

contending that EO2 exceeds the statutory authority delegated by Congress and 

constitutional boundaries. “This is a familiar judicial exercise.” Zivotofsky ex rel. 

Zivotofsky v. Clinton, 566 U.S. 189, 196 (2012). We reject the Government’s 

argument that the Order is not subject to judicial review. Although “[t]he 

Executive has broad discretion over the admission and exclusion of aliens, [] that 

discretion is not boundless. It extends only as far as the statutory authority 

conferred by Congress and may not transgress constitutional limitations. It is the 

duty of the courts, in cases properly before them, to say where those statutory and 
32 

constitutional boundaries lie.” Abourezk v. Reagan, 785 F.2d 1043, 1061 (D.C. 

Cir. 1986), aff’d, 484 U.S. 1 (1987).

Whatever deference we accord to the President’s immigration and national 

security policy judgments does not preclude us from reviewing the policy at all. 

See Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57, 70 (1981) (“[D]eference does not mean 

abdication.”); Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U.S. 1, 34 (2010) (“Our 

precedents, old and new, make clear that concerns of national security and foreign 

relations do not warrant abdication of the judicial role.”).

We do not abdicate the judicial role, and we affirm our obligation “to say 

what the law is” in this case. Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 177 (1803). We 

turn to the merits of the appeal of the preliminary injunction order.

IV

A

A preliminary injunction is “an extraordinary remedy that may only be 

awarded upon a clear showing that the plaintiff is entitled to such relief.” Winter v. 

Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 22 (2008). “A plaintiff seeking a 

preliminary injunction must establish [1] that he is likely to succeed on the merits, 

[2] that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, 

[3] that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and [4] that an injunction is in the 

public interest.” Id. at 20. We may affirm the district court’s entry of the 
33 

preliminary injunction “on any ground supported by the record.” Enyart v. Nat’l 

Conference of Bar Exam’rs, Inc., 630 F.3d 1153, 1159 (9th Cir. 2011).

B

We consider whether Plaintiffs are entitled to preliminary relief based on the 

likelihood that EO2 violates the INA.9 First, we address whether the President 

complied with the conditions set forth in § 1182(f), which are necessary for 

invoking his authority. We next address the conflicts between EO2 and other 

provisions of the INA.

1

Under Article I of the Constitution, the power to make immigration laws “is 

entrusted exclusively to Congress.” Galvan v. Press, 347 U.S. 522, 531 (1954); 

see U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 4 (“The Congress shall have Power . . . [t]o establish 

an uniform Rule of Naturalization . . . .”); Fiallo v. Bell, 430 U.S. 787, 792 (1977) 

(“[O]ver no conceivable subject is the legislative power of Congress more 

 

9 This claim looks at whether the President appropriately exercised his authority 

under § 1182(f) by satisfying its precondition, and whether, and to what extent, his 

authority under § 1182(f) is cabined by other provisions of the INA. Because this 

challenge does not look at whether “the Executive exercises this [delegated and 

conditional exercise of] power negatively,” Mandel, 408 U.S. at 770 (emphasis 

added), nor involves a constitutional challenge by a citizen to a visa denial on the 

basis of congressionally enumerated standards, id. at 769–70, but rather looks at 

whether the President exceeded the scope of his delegated authority, we do not 

apply Mandel’s “facially legitimate and bona fide reason,” id., standard. See Sale, 

509 U.S. at 166–77 (reviewing whether the executive order complied with the INA 

without reference to Mandel’s standard).
34 

complete than it is over the admission of aliens.” (internal quotation marks 

omitted)); id. at 796 (“The conditions of entry for every alien, the particular classes 

of aliens that shall be denied entry altogether, the basis for determining such 

classification . . . have been recognized as matters solely for the responsibility of 

the Congress . . . .” (internal quotation marks omitted)).

In the INA of 1952, Congress delegated some of its power to the President 

through Section 212(f), which provides:

Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class 

of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of 

the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he 

shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of 

aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens 

any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.

8 U.S.C. § 1182(f). 

In Section 2(c) of the Order, the President invokes this power along with 

§ 1185(a)10 to suspend for 90 days the entry of nationals from the six designated 

 

10 Section 1185(a)(1) states:

Unless otherwise ordered by the President, it shall be unlawful—

(1) for any alien to depart from or enter or attempt to depart from or 

enter the United States except under such reasonable rules, regulations, 

and orders, and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the 

President may prescribe[.]

8 U.S.C. § 1185(a)(1). The Government does not argue that § 1185(a)(1) provides 

an independent basis for the suspension of entry. Because, here, this section does 

not grant the President a meaningfully different authority than § 1182(f), and 
35 

countries. See 82 Fed. Reg. at 13213. In Section 6(a) of the Order, the President 

invokes neither section to suspend travel of refugees and to suspend decisions on 

applications for refugee status for 120 days, but, in Section 6(b), the President 

invokes § 1182(f) to cap refugee admissions at 50,000 for the 2017 fiscal year. Id. 

at 13215–16. 

The parties dispute whether EO2 falls clearly within the President’s 

congressionally delegated authority. To be sure, § 1182(f) gives the President 

broad authority to suspend the entry of aliens or classes of aliens. However, this 

authority is not unlimited. Cf. Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116, 129 (1958) (“[I]f that 

power is delegated, the standards must be adequate to pass scrutiny by the accepted 

tests.”); J.W. Hampton, Jr., & Co. v. United States, 276 U.S. 394, 409 (1928) 

(“[L]egislative action is not a forbidden delegation of legislative power” if 

Congress provides an “intelligible principle to which the person or body 

authorized . . . is directed to conform.”). Section 1182(f) requires that the 

President find that the entry of a class of aliens into the United States would be 

detrimental to the interests of the United States.11 This section requires that the 

 

because § 1182(f) specifically provides for the President’s authority to suspend 

entry, our analysis proceeds under § 1182(f), understanding that the “reasonable 

rules, regulations, and orders” the President prescribes would need to, at a 

minimum, align with the President’s authority under § 1182(f).

11 We construe the term “detrimental” to have its common-sense, dictionary 

definition. Detrimental is defined as “causing loss or damage; harmful, injurious, 
36 

President’s findings support the conclusion that entry of all nationals from the six 

designated countries, all refugees, and refugees in excess of 50,000 would be 

harmful to the national interest. There is no sufficient finding in EO2 that the entry 

of the excluded classes would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.

i

Section 2(c) declares that “the unrestricted entry into the United States of 

nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen would be detrimental 

to the interests of the United States” and directs that the entry of nationals from 

those designated countries be barred for 90 days. 82 Fed. Reg. at 13213. The 

provision bans more than 180 million people from entry based on their national 

origin, including nationals who may have never been physically present in those 

countries. See Brief of Former National Security Officials as Amici Curiae, Dkt. 

No. 108 at 17. Section 2(c) states:

[1] To temporarily reduce investigative burdens on relevant agencies 

during the review period [of the United States’ vetting procedures], [2] 

to ensure the proper review and maximum utilization of available 

resources for the screening and vetting of foreign nationals, [3] to 

ensure that adequate standards are established to prevent infiltration by 

foreign terrorists, and [4] in light of the national security concerns 

referenced in section 1 of this order, I hereby proclaim, pursuant to 

sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. [§§] 1182(f) and 

1185(a), that the unrestricted entry into the United States of nationals 

 

hurtful.” Detrimental, Oxford English Dictionary, 

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/51332?redirectedFrom=detrimental#eid. 

Throughout the opinion, in addition to the term “detrimental,” we also use its 

synonyms “harmful” and “injurious.”
37 

of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen would be detrimental 

to the interests of the United States. I therefore direct that the entry into 

the United States of nationals of those six countries be suspended.

82 Fed. Reg. at 13213. The Government explains that the Order’s objective “is to 

address the risk that potential terrorists might exploit possible weaknesses in the 

Nation’s screening and vetting procedures while the review of those procedures is 

underway.”

We reject the first three reasons provided in Section 2(c) because they relate

to preservation of government resources to review existing procedures and ensure 

adequate vetting procedures. There is no finding that present vetting standards are 

inadequate, and no finding that absent the improved vetting procedures there likely 

will be harm to our national interests. These identified reasons do not support the 

conclusion that the entry of nationals from the six designated countries would be 

harmful to our national interests. 

We turn to the fourth reason—national security concerns—and examine 

whether it confers a legally sufficient basis for the President’s conclusion that the 

nationality-based entry restriction is warranted. Section 1(d) of the Order explains 

that nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen warrant 

additional scrutiny because:

Each of these countries is a state sponsor of terrorism, has been 

significantly compromised by terrorist organizations, or contains active 

conflict zones. Any of these circumstances diminishes the foreign 

government’s willingness or ability to share or validate important 
38 

information about individuals seeking to travel to the United States. 

Moreover, the significant presence in each of these countries of terrorist 

organizations, their members, and others exposed to those 

organizations increases the chance that conditions will be exploited to 

enable terrorist operatives or sympathizers to travel to the United States. 

Finally, once foreign nationals from these countries are admitted to the 

United States, it is often difficult to remove them, because many of 

these countries typically delay issuing, or refuse to issue, travel 

documents. 

Id. at 13210 (emphasis added).

Because of these country conditions, the Order concludes that “the risk of 

erroneously permitting entry of a national of one of these countries who intends to 

commit terrorist acts or otherwise harm the national security of the United States is 

unacceptably high.” Id. at 13211. The Order further indicates that “hundreds of 

persons born abroad have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the United 

States[,]” but does not identify the number of nationals from the six designated 

countries who have been so convicted.12 See id. at 13212. 

The Order makes no finding that nationality alone renders entry of this broad 

class of individuals a heightened security risk to the United States. See Int’l

 

12 Amicus Cato Institute explains that over the past decade and a half, only twentysix nationals from the six designated countries have been convicted for any kind of 

terrorism offense, and that only four nationals from the six designated countries 

have been convicted of attempting or plotting a terrorist attack in the United States 

in that time frame. Brief of the Cato Institute as Amicus Curiae, Dkt. No. 170 at 

11–12. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, twelve people have succeeded in 

carrying out fatal domestic terrorist attacks—none committed by nationals from 

the six designated countries in EO2. See Brief of Foundation of Children of Iran 

and Iranian Alliance Across Borders as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 77 at 23.
39 

Refugee Assistance Project, 2017 WL 2273306, at *31 (Keenan, J., concurring in 

part and concurring in the judgment) (“[T]he Second Executive Order does not 

state that any nationals of the six identified countries, by virtue of their nationality, 

intend to commit terrorist acts in the United States or otherwise pose a detriment to 

the interests of the United States.”). 

The Order does not tie these nationals in any way to terrorist organizations

within the six designated countries. It does not identify these nationals as 

contributors to active conflict or as those responsible for insecure country 

conditions. It does not provide any link between an individual’s nationality and 

their propensity to commit terrorism or their inherent dangerousness.

13

 In short, 

 

13 Former Presidents have invoked § 1182(f) under non-exigent circumstances to 

address compromised security conditions abroad but have tied exclusions to the 

culpable conduct of barred aliens, such as aliens who contributed to a country’s 

situation in a specified way or were members of particular narrowly defined and/or 

dangerous groups. See Kate M. Manuel, Executive Authority to Exclude Aliens: In 

Brief 6–10, Congressional Research Service (2017) (listing categories of aliens 

excluded under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f)); see also 9 Foreign Affairs Manual § 302.14-

3(B)(1)(b) (2016), https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030214.html (stating 

that executive orders issued under § 1182(f) have typically applied to 

“individuals”; have sometimes been “based on affiliation”; and otherwise have 

suspended entry “based on objectionable conduct”); Brief of Former Federal 

Immigration and Homeland Security Officials as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 176 at 

18–19 (“None of the Executive actions cited elsewhere by the Government, nor 

any others known to amici, invoked § 1182(f) to suspend entry from one or more 

countries based on the assumption that nationals from those countries were 

inherently dangerous.” (footnotes omitted)). President Obama’s Executive Order 

13726, for example, suspended the entry into the United States of persons who 
40 

the Order does not provide a rationale explaining why permitting entry of nationals 

from the six designated countries under current protocols would be detrimental to 

the interests of the United States.14 

 

were responsible or complicit in particular actions or policies that threaten the 

stability of Libya. See 81 Fed. Reg. 23559 (Apr. 19, 2016). 

In two instances, former Presidents have distinguished classes of aliens on the 

basis of nationality. But these distinctions were made not because of a particular 

concern that entry of the individuals themselves would be detrimental, but rather, 

as retaliatory diplomatic measures responsive to government conduct directed at 

the United States. For example, President Carter’s proclamation barring the future 

entry of Iranians occurred during the exigent circumstance of the Iranian hostage 

crisis. This was one of many sanctions imposed to increase political pressure on 

the Iranian government to ensure the safe return of American hostages. See Exec. 

Order 12172, 44 Fed. Reg. 67947 (Nov. 26, 1979), amended by Exec. Order 

12206, 45 Fed. Reg. 24101 (Apr. 7, 1980); President Jimmy Carter, Sanctions 

Against Iran Remarks Announcing U.S. Actions, The American Presidency Project 

(Apr. 7, 1980), http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33233%20. President 

Reagan’s suspension of entry of certain Cuban nationals as immigrants came as a 

response to the Cuban government’s own suspension of “all types of procedures 

regarding the execution” of an immigration agreement between the United States 

and Cuba, which had “disrupt[ed] normal migration procedures between the two 

countries.” See Proclamation No. 5517, 51 Fed. Reg. 30470 (Aug. 22, 1986).

14 Indeed, the President recently confirmed his assessment that it is the “countries” 

that are inherently dangerous, rather than the 180 million individual nationals of 

those countries who are barred from entry under the President’s “travel ban.” See 

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter (June 5, 2017, 6:20 PM), 

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/871899511525961728 (“That’s right, 

we need a TRAVEL BAN for certain DANGEROUS countries, not some 

politically correct term that won’t help us protect our people!”) (emphasis in 

original); see also Elizabeth Landers, White House: Trump’s tweets are “official 

statements”, CNN (June 6, 2017, 4:37 PM), 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/trump-tweets-official-statements/ 

(reporting the White House Press Secretary’s confirmation that the President’s 

tweets are “considered official statements by the President of the United States”). 
41 

The Order’s discussion of country conditions fails to bridge the gap. Indeed, 

its use of nationality as the sole basis for suspending entry means that nationals 

without significant ties to the six designated countries, such as those who left as 

children or those whose nationality is based on parentage alone, should be 

suspended from entry. Yet, nationals of other countries who do have meaningful 

ties to the six designated countries—and may be contributing to the very country 

conditions discussed—fall outside the scope of Section 2(c). Consequently, EO2’s 

focus on nationality “could have the paradoxical effect of barring entry by a Syrian 

national who has lived in Switzerland for decades, but not a Swiss national who 

has immigrated to Syria during its civil war.” Hawai‘i TRO, 2017 WL 1011673, at 

*15 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted); see also Brief of the Cato 

Institute as Amicus Curiae, Dkt. No. 170 at 14–15 (providing statistics on nationals 

of the designated countries living in other countries as migrants, refugees, or 

asylum seekers and explaining that Syrian and Iranian nationals do not gain 

nationality by virtue of their place of birth).

Although the Order explains that country conditions in the six designated 

countries lessen their governments’ ability to share information about nationals 

seeking to travel to our country, the Order specifically avoids making any finding 

 

We take judicial notice of President Trump’s statement as the veracity of this 

statement “can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy 

cannot reasonably be questioned.” Fed. R. Evid. 201(b)(2).
42 

that the current screening processes are inadequate. As the law stands, a visa 

applicant bears the burden of showing that the applicant is eligible to receive a visa 

or other document for entry and is not inadmissible. See 8 U.S.C. § 1361. The 

Government already can exclude individuals who do not meet that burden. See id. 

The Order offers no further reason explaining how this individualized adjudication 

process is flawed such that permitting entry of an entire class of nationals is 

injurious to the interests of the United States. 

Finally, the Order relies on 8 U.S.C. § 1187(a)(12) to explain why the six 

countries have been designated. 82 Fed. Reg. at 13210. In § 1187(a)(12), 

Congress prevented use of the Visa Waiver Program by dual nationals of, or those 

who have visited in the last six years, (1) Iraq and Syria, (2) any country 

designated by the Secretary of State as a state sponsor of terrorism, and (3) any 

other country designated as a country of concern by the Secretary of Homeland 

Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National 

Intelligence. Rather than setting an outright ban on entry of nationals from these 

countries, Congress restricted access to the tourist Visa Waiver Program and 

instead required that persons who are nationals of or have recently traveled to these 

countries enter the United States with a visa. This provision reflects Congress’s 

considered view on similar security concerns that the Order seeks to address. See 

Chadha, 462 U.S. at 951, 959 (explaining that our founders “consciously” chose to 
43 

place the legislative process in the hands of a “deliberate and deliberative” body). 

The Order identifies no new information to justify Section 2(c)’s blanket ban as 

contrasted with § 1187(a)(12)’s restriction from the Visa Waiver Program. 

Moreover, relying on § 1187(a)(12) alone, which requires that aliens from these 

countries undergo vetting through visa procedures, does not explain why their 

entry would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. To the contrary, it 

effectively negates the Order’s statement of detriment—that the “unrestricted entry 

into the United States of nationals [of the six designated countries] would be 

detrimental to the interests of the United States.” 82 Fed. Reg. at 13213 (emphasis 

added). Section 1187(a)(12) dictates that the entry of individuals covered by the 

Order is never “unrestricted.”

In conclusion, the Order does not offer a sufficient justification to suspend 

the entry of more than 180 million people on the basis of nationality. National 

security is not a “talismanic incantation” that, once invoked, can support any and 

all exercise of executive power under § 1182(f). United States v. Robel, 389 U.S. 

258, 263–64 (1967); see also Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, 235 

(1944) (Murphy, J., dissenting) (“[T]he exclusion order necessarily must rely for 

its reasonableness upon the assumption that all persons of Japanese ancestry may 

have a dangerous tendency to commit sabotage and espionage and to aid our 

Japanese enemy in other ways. It is difficult to believe that reason, logic or 
44 

experience could be marshalled in support of such an assumption.”). Section 

1182(f) requires that the President exercise his authority only after meeting the 

precondition of finding that entry of an alien or class of aliens would be 

detrimental to the interests of the United States. Here, the President has not done 

so.

ii

Section 6(a) suspends travel of refugees into the United States under USRAP 

and suspends decisions on applications for refugee status for 120 days but does not 

specifically announce that the entry of refugees would be detrimental to the 

interests of the United States. 82 Fed. Reg. at 13215. 

Assuming the President also relied on § 1182(f) to suspend USRAP for 120 

days, EO2 provides the following information to possibly support the conclusion 

that refugee admissions would injure the national interest. First, EO2 explains that 

the screening and vetting procedures associated with USRAP “play a crucial role 

in detecting foreign nationals who may commit, aid, or support acts of terrorism 

and in preventing those individuals from entering the United States,” and that it is 

the policy of the United States to improve screening and vetting procedures 

associated with USRAP. Id. at 13209. Section 1(h) cites two examples of refugees 

who have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the United States:

[1] [I]n January 2013, two Iraqi nationals admitted to the United 

States as refugees in 2009 were sentenced to 40 years and to life in 
45 

prison, respectively, for multiple terrorism-related offenses.[15]

[2] [I]n October 2014, a native of Somalia who had been brought to 

the United States as a child refugee and later became a naturalized 

United States citizen was sentenced to 30 years in prison for 

attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction . . . .

[16]

82 Fed. Reg. at 13212. Section 1(h) also explains that there are “more than 300 

persons who entered the United States as refugees [who] are currently the subjects 

of counterterrorism investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Id.

EO2 does not reveal any threat or harm to warrant suspension of USRAP for 

120 days and does not support the conclusion that the entry of refugees in the 

interim time period would be harmful. Nor does it provide any indication that 

present vetting and screening procedures are inadequate.17 Instead, EO2 justifies 

 

15 These two Iraqi nationals pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges for 

engaging in terrorism against Americans overseas and providing material support 

to foreign terrorists and did not face charges for planning a domestic terrorist 

attack. See Press Release: Former Iraqi Terrorists Living in Kentucky Sentenced 

for Terrorist Activities, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-iraqi-terrorists-living-kentucky-sentencedterrorist-activities (Jan. 29, 2013) (last visited June 6, 2017).

16 This Somali national entered the United States at the age of three in 

approximately 1994; the conduct underlying his conviction occurred in 2010 when 

he was nineteen years old. See United States v. Mohamud, 843 F.3d 420, 423 (9th 

Cir. 2016). His background is consistent with DHS’s report that most foreignborn, U.S.-based violent extremists are “likely radicalized several years after their 

entry to the United States,” thus “limiting the ability of screening and vetting 

officials to prevent their entry because of national security concerns” (emphasis 

added).

17 Refugees receive the most thorough vetting of all travelers to the United States 

in a process that takes eighteen to twenty-four months. By the time refugees are 

approved for resettlement in the United States, they have been reviewed by the 
46 

the 120-day suspension as a review period of USRAP application and adjudication 

processes. 82 Fed. Reg. at 13215. The Government reiterates that the President 

directed the suspension “in order to allow the Secretary of State to review 

application and adjudication processes.” These explanations do not support a 

finding that the travel and admission of refugees would be detrimental to the 

interests of the United States.

iii

Section 6(b) of EO2 restricts entry of refugees to no more than 50,000 in the 

2017 fiscal year because entry in excess of 50,000 “would be detrimental to the 

interests of the United States.” 82 Fed. Reg. at 13216. But in accordance with 8 

U.S.C. § 1157, President Obama previously determined that the admission of 

110,000 refugees to the United States during fiscal year 2017 was justified by 

humanitarian concerns or otherwise in the national interest. See Presidential 

Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2017, Presidential 

Determination No. 2016-13, 81 Fed. Reg. 70315 (Sept. 28, 2016); see also

Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2017: Report to the Congress, 

 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the National Counterterrorism 

Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, 

the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the U.S. intelligence 

community. See Brief of Former National Security Officials as Amici Curiae, Dkt. 

No. 108 at 14–16. 
47 

https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/262168.pdf.

18

To the extent that 60,000 additional refugees can be considered a class of 

aliens, EO2 makes no findings to justify barring entry in excess of 50,000 as 

detrimental to the interests of the United States. EO2 gives no explanation for why 

the 50,001st to the 110,000th refugee would be harmful to the national interest, nor 

does it specify any further threat to national security. And there is not any 

rationale explaining why the previous target admission of 110,000 refugees this 

fiscal year was justified by humanitarian concerns or otherwise in the national 

interest, see 8 U.S.C. § 1157(a)(2), but that the entry of more than 50,000 refugees 

this same fiscal year would be detrimental to the national interest. Here too, the

President did not meet the statutory precondition of exercising his authority under 

§ 1182(f) to cap refugee admissions. 

The actions taken in Sections 2 and 6 require the President first to make 

sufficient findings that the entry of nationals from the six designated countries and 

the entry of all refugees would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. 

We conclude that the President did not satisfy this precondition before exercising 

his delegated authority. Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits 

 

18 As of May 31, 2017, the United States has admitted 46,403 refugees in the 2017 

fiscal year. U.S. Dep’t of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, 

Refugee Admissions Report (2017), http://www.wrapsnet.org/admissions-andarrivals (last visited June 6, 2017).
48 

of their claim that the President exceeded his authority under §§ 1182(f) and 

1185(a).

2

Plaintiffs contend that Section 2(c) of the Order violates the INA because it 

discriminates on the basis of nationality, thus violating the non-discrimination 

mandate of § 1152(a)(1)(A) of the INA. They argue that although the President is 

given broad authority under § 1182(f), this authority is restrained by 

§ 1152(a)(1)(A).

Contemporaneous to enacting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting 

Rights Act of 1965, Congress passed the INA of 1965 to eliminate the “national 

origins system as the basis for the selection of immigrants to the United States.” 

H.R. Rep. No. 89-745, at 8 (1965). Section 1152(a)(1)(A) was enacted as part of

that act, and provides:

[N]o person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated 

against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s 

race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.

8 U.S.C. § 1152(a)(1)(A) (emphasis added). Section 1152(a)(1)(A) contains 

specific exemptions, and § 1182(f) is not among them. 

The Government tries to reconcile the Order’s Section 2(c) with

§ 1152(a)(1)(A) by arguing that Section 2(c) bars entry of nationals from the six 

designated countries but does not deny the issuance of immigrant visas based on 
49 

nationality. EO2’s suspension of entry on the basis of nationality, however, in 

substance operates as a ban on visa issuance on the basis of nationality. The 

Order’s text confirms as much. Its primary purpose is to evaluate screening and 

vetting procedures associated with the visa issuance process. 82 Fed. Reg. at 

13209. EO2 affects nationals of the six designated countries who were outside of 

the United States on the effective date of the Order but did not have a valid visa at

specific times, such as the effective date of EO1. 82 Fed. Reg. at 13213. Further, 

it provides for a waiver so consular officers or Customs and Border Protection 

officials may authorize the issuance of visas during the suspension period. Id. at 

13214. The Government also stresses that it should not be required to issue visas 

for aliens who are validly barred from entry, explaining that “[r]equiring that such 

aliens be issued visas permitting them to travel to this country, only to be denied 

entry upon arrival, would create needless difficulties and confusion.” Indeed, the 

Government clarified at oral argument that as a practical matter, the entry ban 

would be implemented through visa denials. Moreover, the statute makes clear 

that aliens deemed inadmissible under § 1182, including under § 1182(f) “are 

ineligible to receive visas,” thus confirming the substantial overlap between a 

denial of entry under § 1182(f) and a visa denial. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a); see also 

Int’l Refugee Assistance Project, 2017 WL 2273306, at *52 (Thacker, J., 

concurring) (explaining that the Government’s “own arguments and the text and 
50 

operation of [EO2] belie [the] notion” that the visa issuance process is a different 

activity than suspension of entry). 

We cannot blind ourselves to the fact that, for nationals of the six designated 

countries, EO2 is effectively a ban on the issuance of immigrant visas. If allowed 

to stand, EO2 would bar issuance of visas based on nationality in violation of 

§ 1152(a)(1)(A). The Government did not dispute this point at oral argument, and 

it stands to reason that the whole system of the visa issuance would grind to a halt 

for nationals of the six designated countries whose entry is barred from the United 

States. Issuance of visas will automatically stop for those who are banned based 

on nationality. Yet Congress could not have used “more explicit language” in 

“unambiguously direct[ing] that no nationality-based discrimination shall occur.” 

Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers, 45 F.3d at 473. 

The Government additionally argues that § 1152(a)(1)(A) does not displace 

the President’s preexisting authority under § 1182(f), because the President may 

validly bar entry and the non-discrimination mandate applies strictly to the 

issuance of visas. Based on the plain statutory text, the Government contends that 

the non-discrimination mandate of § 1152(a)(1)(A) does not reach the President’s 

suspension of entry under § 1182(f). 

This argument, however, presents a clear conflict between § 1152(a)(1)(A) 

and § 1182, because it would enable the President to restore discrimination on the 
51 

basis of nationality that Congress sought to eliminate. It is our duty, if possible, to 

reconcile the President’s statutory authority under § 1182(f) with the nondiscrimination mandate of § 1152(a)(1)(A). We begin with the instruction that “all 

parts of a statute, if at all possible, are to be given effect.” Weinberger v. Hyson, 

Westcott & Dunning, Inc., 412 U.S. 609, 633 (1973); accord Food & Drug Admin.

v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. 120, 133 (2000) (“A court 

must . . . fit, if possible, all parts into an harmonious whole.” (internal citation and 

quotation marks omitted)). We also look “to the design of the statute as a whole 

and to its object and policy.” Gozlon-Peretz v. United States, 498 U.S. 395, 407 

(1991) (quoting Crandon v. United States, 494 U.S. 152, 158 (1990)). 

Under the Government’s argument, the President could circumvent the 

limitations set by § 1152(a)(1)(A) by permitting the issuance of visas to nationals 

of the six designated countries, but then deny them entry. Congress could not have 

intended to permit the President to flout § 1152(a) so easily. See Dada v. Mukasey, 

554 U.S. 1, 16 (2008) (courts should not read statutes in such a way that renders 

them a “nullity” or is “unsustainable”).

To avoid this result, and to give effect to § 1152(a)(1)(A), the section “is 

best read to prohibit discrimination throughout the visa process, which must 

include the decision whether to admit a visa holder upon presenting the visa.” 

Brief of Former Immigration and Homeland Security Officials as Amici Curiae, 
52 

Dkt. No. 176 at 9. In prohibiting nationality-based discrimination in the issuance 

of immigrant visas, Congress also in effect prohibited nationality-based 

discrimination in the admission of aliens. “Congress could not have intended to 

prohibit discrimination at the embassy, but permit it at the airport gate.” Brief of 

Technology Companies as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 180 at 20. We do not suggest 

that visa holders must gain automatic entry into the United States, but rather, that 

visa holders cannot be discriminated against on the basis of “race, sex, nationality, 

place of birth, or place of residence” throughout the visa process, whether during 

the issuance of a visa or at the port of entry.

19

 

Our conclusion that § 1152(a)(1)(A)’s non-discrimination mandate cabins 

the President’s authority under § 1182(f) is reinforced by other canons of statutory 

construction. 

First, a later enacted, more specific statute generally governs over an earlier, 

more general one. See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The 

Interpretation of Legal Texts 183–87 (2012). Here, § 1152(a)(1)(A) was enacted 

in 1965, after § 1182(f) was enacted in 1952. Section 1152(a)(1)(A) is also more 

 

19 While a foreign national may properly obtain a visa, this does not guarantee 

entry into the United States because they may otherwise be inadmissible. See 8 

U.S.C. § 1201(h) (“Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to entitle any alien, 

to whom a visa or other documentation has been issued, to be admitted to the 

United States.”); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (listing the myriad ways an alien can be 

deemed inadmissible).
53 

specific, and sets a limitation on the President’s broad authority to exclude aliens—

he may do so, but not in a way that discriminates based on nationality. See

RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, 132 S. Ct. 2065, 2071 (2012) 

(“The general/specific canon is perhaps most frequently applied to statutes in 

which a general permission or prohibition is contradicted by a specific prohibition 

or permission. To eliminate the contradiction, the specific provision is construed 

as an exception to the general one.”).

Second, § 1152(a)(1)(A) specifically identifies exemptions from the nondiscrimination mandate, implying that unmentioned sections are not exempted. 

See United Dominion Indus., Inc. v. United States, 532 U.S. 822, 836 (2001) (“The 

logic that invests the omission with significance is familiar: the mention of some 

implies the exclusion of others not mentioned.”). Section 1152(a)(1)(A) explicitly 

exempts three different INA provisions from its application—8 U.S.C. 

§§ 1101(a)(27), 1151(b)(2)(A)(i), and 1153—all of which deal with giving 

preference to certain immigrants, such as family members of current citizens and 

permanent residents. Had Congress likewise intended to permit § 1182(f) to 

override § 1152(a)(1)(A)’s non-discrimination requirement, it would have done so 

in the same way it did for the other provisions. 

The Government contends that §§ 1182(f) and 1185(a)(1) “have long been 

understood to permit the president to draw nationality-based distinctions.” 
54 

However, as discussed above, supra note 13, prior executive orders and 

proclamations did not suspend classes of aliens on the basis of national origin, but 

instead on the basis of affiliation or culpable conduct. See Kate M. Manuel, 

Executive Authority to Exclude Aliens: In Brief 6–10, Congressional Research 

Service (2017). The other instances cited by the Government are distinguishable. 

The executive order at issue in Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc., 509 U.S. 155 

(1993), made no nationality-based distinctions and concerned “suspend[ing] the 

entry of aliens coming by sea to the United States without necessary 

documentation.” Exec. Order No. 12807, 57 Fed. Reg. 23133 (May 24, 1992). 

President Carter’s executive orders in response to the Iranian hostage crisis 

delegated authority to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to prescribe 

limitations governing the entry of Iranian nationals and did not ban Iranian 

immigrants outright. See Exec. Order 12172, 44 Fed. Reg. 67947 (Nov. 26, 1979), 

amended by Exec. Order 12206, 45 Fed. Reg. 24101 (Apr. 7, 1980). Finally,

President Reagan’s Proclamation 5517 suspended the entry of Cuban nationals 

coming as immigrants, with some exceptions. 51 Fed. Reg. 30470 (Aug. 22, 

1986). The proclamation did not exclude all foreign nationals, as exceptions were 

provided, and the proclamation was in response to Cuba’s decision “‘to suspend all 

types of procedures regarding the execution’ of the December 14, 1984, 
55 

immigration agreement between the United States and Cuba.”20 Id. To be clear, 

Presidents have invoked §§ 1182(f) and 1185(a)(1) to restrict certain aliens or 

classes of aliens from entering the United States, but EO2 is unprecedented in its 

scope, purpose, and breadth. 

The Government also argues that the President may engage in discrimination 

on the basis of nationality because of the exception provided in § 1152(a)(1)(B). 

Section 1152(a)(1)(B) provides, “[n]othing in [§ 1152(a)(1)(A)] shall be construed 

to limit the authority of the Secretary of State to determine the procedures for the 

processing of immigrant visa applications or the locations where such applications 

will be processed.” However, this provision governs the Secretary of State’s 

manner and place for processing applications, not the President’s asserted ability to 

deny immigrant visas on the basis of nationality.

Having considered the President’s authority under § 1182(f) and the nondiscrimination mandate of § 1152(a)(1)(A), we also conclude that Plaintiffs have 

shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that Section 2(c) of the 

Order, in suspending the issuance of immigrant visas and denying entry based on 

nationality, exceeds the restriction of § 1152(a)(1)(A) and the overall statutory 

 

20 Because these executive actions were not challenged as violations of § 1182(f) 

or § 1152(a)(1)(A), “the judiciary [has not] address[ed] whether the order[s] 

complied with those provisions or the Constitution.” Int’l Refugee Assistance 

Project, 2017 WL 2273306, at *45 n.11 (Wynn, J., concurring).
56 

scheme intended by Congress.

3

Aside from the President’s failure to make the requisite findings to justify 

reducing the entry of refugees in fiscal year 2017 as an exercise of authority under 

§ 1182(f), Plaintiffs contend that 8 U.S.C. § 1157 circumscribes the President’s 

actions in setting the number of refugees to be admitted this fiscal year. We agree.

The Refugee Act of 1980 amended the INA “to provide a permanent and 

systematic procedure for the admission to this country of refugees of special 

humanitarian concern to the United States, and to provide comprehensive and 

uniform provisions for the effective resettlement and absorption of those refugees 

who are admitted.” Pub. L. No. 96-212, § 101, 94 Stat. 102 (1980).

The Act requires that the President, after consulting with Congress, set the 

annual admission of refugees before the beginning of every fiscal year:

[T]he number of refugees who may be admitted under this section in 

any fiscal year . . . shall be such number as the President determines,

before the beginning of the fiscal year and after appropriate 

consultation, is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the 

national interest.

8 U.S.C. § 1157(a)(2). “Appropriate consultation” is defined as “discussions in 

person by designated Cabinet-level representatives of the President with members 

of the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and of the House of 

Representatives.” Id. § 1157(e). After undergoing this process in 2016, President 
57 

Obama determined that the admission of 110,000 refugees to the United States 

during fiscal year 2017 was justified by humanitarian concerns or otherwise in the 

national interest. See 81 Fed. Reg. at 70315. Section 6(b) of EO2 reduced the 

refugee admission cap for the same year to 50,000. See 82 Fed. Reg. at 13216.

The statute requires the President to set the number of annual refugee 

admissions (1) before the start of the new fiscal year, and (2) after appropriate

consultation with Congress. The Government responds that § 1157 only refers to a 

ceiling—not the floor—for the number of refugees who may be admitted, and that 

§§ 1182(f) and 1185(a)(1) permit the President to lower the number of refugees 

permitted to enter.

We disagree. This interpretation reads out the language that the number of 

refugees who may be admitted shall be the number determined by the President. 

See 8 U.S.C. § 1157(a)(2). The Government’s argument would require us to 

conclude that Congress set forth very specific requirements for the President to 

provide the number and allocation of the refugees to be admitted as justified by 

humanitarian concerns or the national interest, after appropriate consultation, only 

to permit the President to order a midyear reduction in the level of refugee 

admissions, and to do so without consulting Congress. Section 1157 contemplates 

that the President, after consultation with Congress, may increase the number of 

refugees admitted in the middle of the fiscal year, but does not provide a 
58 

mechanism for the President to decrease the number of refugees to be admitted

mid-year. See id. § 1157(b) (describing how, after appropriate consultation, the 

President may fix a number of additional refugees to be admitted to the United 

States).

Well-settled interpretive canons further explain why § 1182(f) does not give 

the President authority to override the requirements of § 1157. First, applying the 

“later in time” canon, § 1182(f) was adopted in 1952, and § 1157 was adopted in 

1980, indicating that this subsequent statute shapes the scope of the President’s 

authority. See Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. at 143 (“The ‘classic 

judicial task of reconciling many laws enacted over time, and getting them to 

‘make sense’ in combination, necessarily assumes that the implications of a statute 

may be altered by the implications of a later statute.’” (quoting United States v. 

Fausto, 484 U.S. 439, 453 (1988))). 

Second, § 1157, the more specific provision, controls the more general 

§ 1182(f). See id. (“This is particularly so where the scope of the earlier statute is 

broad but the subsequent statutes more specifically address the topic at hand.”); 

Radzanower v. Touche Ross & Co., 426 U.S. 148, 153 (1976). Section 1157 

provides a very specific process for “appropriate consultation” that the President 

must follow before setting the number of refugees to be admitted to the United 

States that is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national 
59 

interest. “Appropriate consultation” requires in-person discussions between 

cabinet-level representatives and members of Congress “to review the refugee 

situation or emergency refugee situation, to project the extent of possible 

participation of the United States therein, [and] to discuss the reasons for believing 

that the proposed admission of refugees is justified by humanitarian concerns or 

grave humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest . . . .” 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1157(e). As part of the consultation, the Executive also must present the 

following information:

(1) A description of the nature of the refugee situation.

(2) A description of the number and allocation of the refugees to be 

admitted and an analysis of conditions within the countries from which 

they came.

(3) A description of the proposed plans for their movement and 

resettlement and the estimated cost of their movement and resettlement.

(4) An analysis of the anticipated social, economic, and demographic 

impact of their admission to the United States.

(5) A description of the extent to which other countries will admit and 

assist in the resettlement of such refugees.

(6) An analysis of the impact of the participation of the United States 

in the resettlement of such refugees on the foreign policy interests of 

the United States.

(7) Such additional information as may be appropriate or requested by 

such members.

Id. According to the statute, this information would ideally be provided at least 

two weeks in advance of the discussions. Id. 

Congress prescribed specific actions the President must take before setting 

the number of refugees who may be admitted as justified by humanitarian concerns 
60 

or as otherwise in the national interest. See generally 8 U.S.C. § 1157. The 

President relied on § 1182(f)—an earlier and more general provision—to conclude 

that admission of refugees above 50,000 is detrimental to the interest of the United 

States. But § 1157, a “narrow, precise, and specific” statutory provision, may not 

be overridden by § 1182(f), a provision “covering a more generalized spectrum” of 

issues. Radzanower, 426 U.S. at 153–54; see also Nitro–Lift Techs., LLC v. 

Howard, 133 S. Ct. 500, 504 (2012) (explaining that the interpretive principle 

generalia specialibus non derogant means that “the specific governs the general” 

and applies to conflict between “laws of equivalent dignity”).

As a result, Plaintiffs have also shown a likelihood of success on the merits 

for their argument that Section 6(b) of EO2 conflicts with 8 U.S.C. § 1157.

4

Plaintiffs additionally argue that EO2 conflicts with 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1182(a)(3)(B), which sets forth detailed and “specific criteria for determining 

terrorism-related inadmissibility.” Din, 135 S. Ct. at 2140.

EO2 attempts to eliminate the marginal risk of “erroneously permitting entry 

of a national of one of these countries who intends to commit terrorist acts,” 82 

Fed. Reg. at 13211, by suspending entry of all nationals from the six designated 

countries. We need not decide the precise scope of § 1182(f) authority in relation 

to § 1182(a)(3)(B) because the President has not met the precondition to exercising 
61 

his power under § 1182(f), that is, of making a detrimentality finding. We note, 

however, that executive action should not render superfluous Congress’s 

requirement that there be a “reasonable ground to believe” that an alien “is likely 

to engage after entry in any [specifically defined] terrorist activity,” 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1182(a)(3)(B)(i)(II), and other specific grounds for terrorism-related 

admissibility. Cf. Abourezk, 785 F.2d at 1049 n.2 (“The President’s sweeping 

proclamation power [under § 1182(f)] provides a safeguard against the danger 

posed by any particular case or class of cases that is not covered by one of the 

categories in section 1182(a).” (emphasis added)); Allende v. Shultz, 845 F.2d 

1111, 1118 (1st Cir. 1988) (“Each subsection [of § 1182(a)] creates a different and 

distinct ground for exclusion.”).

5

Finally, we note that in considering the President’s authority, we are 

cognizant of Justice Jackson’s tripartite framework in Youngstown Sheet & Tube 

Co. v. Sawyer. See 343 U.S. 579, 635–38 (1952) (Jackson, J., concurring). 

Section 1182(f) ordinarily places the President’s authority at its maximum. “When 

the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his 

authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right 

plus all that Congress can delegate.” Id. at 635. However, given the express will 

of Congress through § 1152(a)(1)(A)’s non-discrimination mandate, § 1157’s 
62 

procedure for refugee admissions to this country, and § 1182(a)(3)(B)’s criteria for 

determining terrorism-related inadmissibility, the President took measures that 

were incompatible with the expressed will of Congress, placing his power “at its 

lowest ebb.” Id. at 637. In this zone, “Presidential claim to a power at once so 

conclusive and preclusive must be scrutinized with caution, for what is at stake is 

the equilibrium established by our constitutional system.” Id. at 638. We have 

based our decision holding the entry ban unlawful on statutory considerations, and 

nothing said herein precludes Congress and the President from reaching a new 

understanding and confirming it by statute. If there were such consensus between

Congress and the President, then we would view Presidential power at its 

maximum, and not in the weakened state based on conflict with statutory law. See 

id. at 635–38.

* * *

In sum, we conclude that Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on 

the merits at least as to their arguments that EO2 contravenes the INA by 

exceeding the President’s authority under § 1182(f), discriminating on the basis of 

nationality, and disregarding the procedures for setting annual admissions of 

refugees.21

 

21 Because this claim relates to EO2’s conflict with the INA, we leave open 

whether and in what circumstances the President may suspend entry under his 
63 

C

The current record is sufficient to permit the court’s evaluation of the 

irreparable harms threatening Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs identify harms, such as 

prolonged separation from family members, constraints to recruiting and attracting 

students and faculty members to the University of Hawai‘i, decreased tuition 

revenue, and the State’s inability to assist in refugee resettlement. Many of these 

harms are not compensable with monetary damages and therefore weigh in favor 

of finding irreparable harm. See, e.g., Washington, 847 F.3d at 1169 (identifying 

harms such as harms to States’ university employees and students, separated 

families, and stranded States’ residents abroad); Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Am. 

Broad. Cos., Inc., 747 F.2d 511, 520 (9th Cir. 1984) (crediting intangible harms 

such as the “impairment of their ongoing recruitment programs [and] the 

dissipation of alumni and community goodwill and support garnered over the 

years”); cf. Moore v. City of E. Cleveland, Ohio, 431 U.S. 494, 503–04 (1977) 

(explaining that “the Constitution protects the sanctity of the family precisely 

because the institution of the family is deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and 

tradition”).

We conclude Plaintiffs are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of 

 

inherent powers as commander-in-chief or in a time of national emergency. See, 

e.g., Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers, 45 F.3d at 473. 
64 

preliminary relief. 

D

In considering the equities of a preliminary injunction, we next “balance the 

competing claims of injury” and “consider the effect on each party of the granting 

or withholding of the requested relief.” Winter, 555 U.S. at 24. 

The district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the balance of 

hardships tipped in Plaintiffs’ favor. The Government argues that the injunction 

causes direct, irreparable injury by constraining the Executive’s authority in 

“protect[ing] national security on behalf of the entire United States.”22 “[T]he 

Government’s interest in combating terrorism is an urgent objective of the highest 

order.” Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U.S. at 28. Nonetheless, the President

must exercise his authority under § 1182(f) lawfully by making sufficient findings 

justifying that entry of certain classes of aliens would be detrimental to the national 

interest and ensuring that such exercise does not conflict with other INA 

 

22 To the extent the Government argues that it is injured simply by nature of the 

judiciary limiting the President’s authority, ipso facto, when it argues that it 

suffered a “form of irreparable injury” because it was “enjoined by a court from 

effectuating statutes enacted by representatives of its people,” we reject that 

argument. See Robel, 389 U.S. at 264 (“[The] concept of ‘national defense’ cannot 

be deemed an end in itself, justifying any exercise of . . . power designed to 

promote such a goal. Implicit in the term ‘national defense’ is the notion of 

defending those values and ideals which set this Nation apart.”); see also Int’l 

Refugee Assistance Project, 2017 WL 2273306, at *25 (rejecting the 

Government’s “institutional injury” argument, as “even the President’s actions are 

not above judicial scrutiny”).
65 

provisions. Because the President has not done so, we cannot conclude that 

national security interests outweigh the harms to Plaintiffs. See Int’l Refugee 

Assistance Project, 2017 WL 2273306, at *32 (Keenan, J., concurring in part and 

concurring in the judgment). 

Further, the Government has not put forth evidence of injuries resulting from 

the preliminary injunction, or how the screening and vetting procedures in place 

before the Order was enjoined were inadequate such that the Order should take 

immediate effect. Continuing to enjoin portions of EO2 restores immigration 

procedures and programs to the position they were in prior to its issuance. See 

Washington, 847 F.3d at 1168; see also Brief of Former National Security Officials 

as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 108 at 9 (explaining that a number of amici officials, in 

office on January 20, 2017 and current on active intelligence, knew of no “credible 

terrorist threat streams directed against the United States” at that time).

In weighing the harms, the equities tip in Plaintiffs’ favor. 

E

Plaintiffs must finally show that preliminary injunctive relief is in the public 

interest. 

National security is undoubtedly a paramount public interest. See Haig v. 

Agee, 453 U.S. 280, 307 (1981) (“[N]o governmental interest is more compelling 
66 

than the security of the Nation.”).23 Although we recognize that “sensitive and 

weighty interests of national security and foreign affairs” are implicated, 

Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U.S. at 33–34, the President must nonetheless 

exercise his executive power under § 1182(f) lawfully. The public interest is 

served by “curtailing unlawful executive action.” Texas, 809 F.3d at 187. 

The public interests in uniting families and supporting humanitarian efforts 

in refugee resettlement support the conclusion that the public interest is served by 

preliminarily enjoining EO2 and maintaining the status quo. Cf. Solis-Espinoza v. 

Gonzales, 401 F.3d 1090, 1094 (9th Cir. 2005) (“Public policy supports 

 

23 Several amici contend that the Order not only serves no national security 

interest, but actually harms our security. See, e.g., Brief of Former National 

Security Officials as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 108 at 2 (explaining that the Order 

will harm the country’s national security and foreign policy interest: “It will 

endanger troops in the field, and disrupt key counterterrorism and national security 

partnerships. It will aid the propaganda effort of the Islamic State in Iraq and the 

Levant (“ISIL”) and support its recruitment message. By feeding the narrative that 

the United States is at war with Islam, the Order will impair relationships with the 

very Muslim communities that law enforcement professionals rely on to address 

the threat of terrorism. And it will have a damaging humanitarian and economic 

impact.”); Brief of Former Federal Immigration and Homeland Security Officials 

as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 176 at 20–21 (“[T]he Order weakens vetting protocols 

and procedures by using national-origin discrimination as a substitute for 

individualized threat assessments. The Order also threatens to fracture critical 

military, intelligence, and counterterrorism partnerships and hinder cooperation 

with the very communities with which law enforcement professionals work to 

disrupt terrorist plots.”); Brief of Doe Plaintiffs as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 276, Ex. 

G., U.S. Dep’t of State, Dissent Channel: Alternatives to Closing Doors in Order to 

Secure Our Borders (voicing the State Department officers’ concerns about EO1). 

A draft DHS report also concluded that citizenship “is unlikely to be a reliable 

indicator of potential terrorist activity.”
67 

recognition and maintenance of a family unit. The [INA] was intended to keep 

families together. It should be construed in favor of family units and the 

acceptance of responsibility by family members.”); Kaliski v. Dist. Dir. of INS, 620 

F.2d 214, 217 (9th Cir. 1980) (explaining that “the humane purpose” of the INA is 

to reunite families).

Amici also have identified specific harms that will result if EO2 takes effect, 

bolstering the conclusion that the injunction is in the public interest. They explain 

that EO2 would, inter alia: curtail children’s ability to travel to the United States to 

obtain life-saving medical care, see Brief of the Foundation for the Children of Iran 

and Iranian Alliances Across Borders as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 77; undermine the 

efforts of religious organizations in the United States rendering humanitarian aid, 

see Brief of Episcopal Bishops as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 87; compromise the 

diversity interests that are central to universities, see Brief of New York University 

as Amicus Curiae, Dkt. No. 95; deter international students, faculty, and scholars 

from studying at American universities and harm the research mission of 

universities, see Brief of Colleges and Universities as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 97; 

impose additional hardship for child refugees already facing violence and trauma, 

see Brief of Professional Society on the Abuse of Children as Amicus Curiae, Dkt. 

No. 107; immediately harm refugees who will be denied entry and risk the vitality 

of entire refugee assistance programs and resettlement efforts, see Brief of 
68 

Interfaith Group of Religions and Interreligious Organizations as Amici Curiae, 

Dkt. No. 121, Brief of Oxfam America as Amicus Curiae, Dkt. No. 149, Brief of 

HIAS, IRC, and USCRI as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 155, Brief of Doe Plaintiffs as 

Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 276; uniquely exclude Muslim family members, scholars, 

religious leaders, and professionals from entry, see Brief of Muslim Rights, 

Professional, and Public Health Organizations as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 124, 

Brief of Muslim Justice League et al. as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 207; inflict 

proprietary harms on the states by harming state colleges, disrupting staffing and 

research at state medical institutions, and reducing tax revenues and reinvestment 

of refugee funding into local economies, see Brief of Illinois et al. as Amici Curiae, 

Dkt. No. 125; undermine trust between law enforcement and immigrant 

communities and inflict financial and social costs, such as loss of tourism dollars, 

see Brief of Chicago et al. as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 137; interfere with union 

members’ ability to do their work and serve the American public, see Brief of 

Service Employees International Union et al. as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 166; harm 

American competitiveness by disrupting ongoing business operations and 

inhibiting technology companies’ abilities to attract talent, business, and 

investment to the United States, see Brief of Technology Companies as Amici 

Curiae, Dkt. No. 180, Brief of Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council as 

Amicus Curiae, Dkt. No. 194; place victims of gender-based violence at particular 
69 

risk, see Tahirih Justice Center et al. as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 185; interrupt 

foreign artists’ exhibitions and performances in the United States, see Brief of the 

Association of Art Museum Directors et al. as Amici Curiae, Dkt. No. 204; and 

prevent U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from receiving visits from or 

reuniting with family members, see Brief of Human Rights First et al. as Amici 

Curiae, Dkt. No. 222.

The public interest favors affirming the preliminary injunction. See Winter, 

555 U.S. at 24 (“In exercising their sound discretion, courts of equity should pay 

particular regard for the public consequences in employing the extraordinary 

remedy of injunction.”).

* * *

Plaintiffs have satisfied all four factors to warrant entry of the preliminary 

injunction. See id. at 20. The district court did not abuse its discretion in granting 

an injunction.

V

With respect to the injunction’s scope, the Government contends that the 

district court erred by enjoining internal government procedures, giving nationwide 

relief, and entering an order against the President.

We review the scope of a preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion. 

McCormack v. Hiedeman, 694 F.3d 1004, 1010 (9th Cir. 2012). Although the 
70 

district court has “considerable discretion in fashioning suitable relief and defining 

the terms of an injunction,” Lamb-Weston, Inc. v. McCain Foods, Ltd., 941 F.2d 

970, 974 (9th Cir. 1991), there are limitations on this discretion. Injunctive relief 

must be tailored to remedy the specific harms shown by the plaintiffs. See id. 

(“Injunctive relief . . . must be tailored to remedy the specific harm alleged.”); 

Califano v. Yamasaki, 442 U.S. 682, 702 (1979) (“[T]he scope of injunctive relief 

is dictated by the extent of the violation established . . . .”). “An overbroad 

injunction is an abuse of discretion.” Stormans, 586 F.3d at 1140.

A

The Government first argues that the injunction improperly enjoins 

enforcement of parts of Sections 2 and 6 that are unrelated to any alleged harm to 

Plaintiffs—specifically, the provisions that pertain to internal government 

operations and procedures.

Portions of Section 2 require various agencies to conduct a review of 

worldwide vetting procedures to determine what additional information, if any, is 

needed from each foreign country to adjudicate a visa application, prepare a report 

on the results of the worldwide review, submit a list of countries that do not 

provide requested information to the President, and recommend other lawful 

restrictions or limitations deemed necessary for the security of the United States. 

82 Fed. Reg. at 13212–13. Likewise, during the interim period when refugee 
71 

admissions is suspended, Section 6 directs the Secretary of State, in conjunction 

with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence, 

to conduct an internal review and implement additional procedures identified by 

the review. Id. at 13215. Section 6 also requires the Secretary of State to review 

the “existing law” to determine how State and local jurisdictions could have 

greater involvement in the process of determining refugee placement. Id. at 13216.

Although other unenjoined sections of EO2 permit interagency coordination 

to review vetting procedures, the district court nonetheless abused its discretion in 

enjoining the inward-facing tasks of Sections 2 and 6. Enjoining the entirety of 

Sections 2 and 6 was not narrowly tailored to addressing only the harms alleged. 

For example, internal determinations regarding the necessary information for visa 

application adjudications do not have an obvious relationship to the constitutional 

rights at stake or statutory conflicts at issue here. Plaintiffs have not shown how 

the Government’s internal review of its vetting procedures will harm them. We 

vacate the preliminary injunction to the extent it enjoins internal review procedures 

that do not burden individuals outside of the executive branch of the federal 

government. See Bresgal v. Brock, 843 F.2d 1163, 1171 (9th Cir. 1987) (“An 

injunction against a government agency must be structured to take into account 

‘the well-established rule that the government has traditionally been granted the 

widest latitude in the “dispatch of its own internal affairs.”’” (quoting Rizzo v. 
72 

Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 378–79 (1976))); cf. Bowen v. Roy, 476 U.S. 693, 700 

(1986) (explaining that the Free Exercise Clause “affords an individual protection 

from certain forms of governmental compulsion [but] does not afford an individual 

a right to dictate the conduct of the Government’s internal procedures”).

B

The Government next argues that the district court erred in enjoining Section 

6’s refugee provisions, specifically the suspension of refugees and adoption of the 

50,000 refugee cap.

The State alleges that Section 6 will force it to abandon the refugee program 

that embodies the State’s traditions of openness and diversity. The State has 

several policies that aid and resettle refugees, and has a “long history of welcoming 

refugees impacted by war and oppression.” As discussed earlier, OCS, a division 

of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, is directed to “[a]ssist and 

coordinate the efforts of all public and private agencies providing services which 

affect the disadvantaged, refugees, and immigrants.” Haw. Rev. Stat. § 371K-4(5). 

OCS also operates the Refugee Social Services Program and the Refugee Cash and 

Medical Assistance Program. See Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 

Office of Community Services, 2017 Hawaii State Plan for Refugee Assistance 

and Services (2016); https://labor.hawaii.gov/ocs/files/2013/02/FY17-State-Planfor-Hawaii.pdf (last visited June 6, 2017). The State further highlights that aiding 
73 

refugees is central to the mission of private organizations, like Catholic Charities 

Hawai‘i and Pacific Gateway Center.

Since fiscal year 2010, at least twenty refugees have arrived and resettled in 

Hawai‘i, and in fiscal year 2017 to date, three have resettled there. While this is a 

small number of refugees, it does not diminish Hawai‘i’s interest in effectuating its 

refugee programs and investments. Enjoining the suspension and cap would 

protect the State’s programs and efforts in resettling refugees.

Although the Government is correct in pointing out that most of Plaintiffs’ 

alleged injuries center on the implementation of Section 2(c), at this preliminary 

stage of litigation, the district court did not abuse its discretion by enjoining 

Section 6’s operative provisions suspending refugee admission on the basis of the 

current record. We therefore reject the Government’s challenge on this point.

C

The Government next contends that the district court erred by enjoining 

Section 2(c) as to all persons everywhere, rather than redressing only Plaintiffs’ 

injuries. The Government requests that the nationwide injunction be limited to 

Plaintiffs only.

24

 

 

24 The Government also argues that to the extent § 1152(a)(1)(A) cabins executive 

authority, the injunction entered by the district court can only apply to immigrant 

visas and should not apply to nonimmigrant visas. We decline to narrow the 

injunction on the grounds proposed by the Government because, even assuming 
74 

The district court identified two reasons to support a nationwide injunction. 

First, the district court emphasized that in certain circumstances, it is appropriate 

for courts to issue nationwide injunctions. Hawai‘i PI, 2017 WL 1167383, at *8. 

As the Fifth Circuit observed in Texas v. United States, nationwide injunctions are 

particularly appropriate in the immigration context because “immigration laws of 

the United States should be enforced vigorously and uniformly.” 809 F.3d at 187–

88; see U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 4 (“The Congress shall have Power . . . [t]o

establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization . . . .”) (emphasis added). Enjoining 

the conduct as to Plaintiffs may result in “fragmented immigration policy [that] 

would run afoul of the constitutional and statutory requirement for uniform 

immigration law and policy.” Washington, 847 F.3d at 1166–67 (citing to Texas, 

809 F.3d at 187–88)).

Second, the district court made clear that the Government did not provide a 

workable framework for narrowing the geographic scope of the injunction. See id.

at 1167 (“[E]ven if limiting the geographic scope of the injunction would be 

desirable, the Government has not proposed a workable alternative form of the 

TRO that accounts for the nation’s multiple ports of entry and interconnected 

transit system and that would protect the proprietary interests of the States at issue 

 

the Government is correct, the President failed to meet the precondition to 

exercising his authority under § 1182(f).
75 

here while nevertheless applying only within the States’ borders.”). On appeal, the 

Government has not offered any new workable method of limiting the geographic 

scope of the injunction.

An “injunction is not necessarily made over-broad by extending benefit or 

protection to persons other than prevailing parties in the lawsuit—even if it is not a 

class action—if such breadth is necessary to give prevailing parties the relief to 

which they are entitled.” Bresgal, 843 F.2d at 1170–71. Narrowing the injunction 

to apply only to Plaintiffs would not cure the statutory violations identified, which 

in all applications would violate provisions of the INA. See Int’l Refugee 

Assistance Project, 2017 WL 2273306, at *27 (affirming the nationwide injunction 

because Section 2(c) of EO2 likely violates the Establishment Clause, and its 

constitutional deficiency “would endure” in all applications); cf. Nat’l Mining 

Ass’n v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 145 F.3d 1399, 1409 (D.C. Cir. 1998) 

(“[W]hen a reviewing court determines that agency regulations are unlawful, the 

ordinary result is that the rules are vacated—not that their application to the 

individual petitioners is proscribed.” (quoting Harmon v. Thornburgh, 878 F.2d 

484, 495 n.21 (D.C. Cir. 1989))).

The district court did not abuse its discretion in entering a nationwide 

preliminary injunction.
76 

D

Finally, the Government argues that the district court erred by issuing an 

injunction that runs against the President himself. This position of the Government 

is well taken. Generally, we lack “jurisdiction of a bill to enjoin the President in 

the performance of his official duties.” Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 

802–03 (1992) (quoting Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. 475, 501 (1866)); see id. at 

802 (“[I]njunctive relief against the President himself is extraordinary, and 

should . . . raise[] judicial eyebrows.”). Injunctive relief, however, may run against 

executive officials, including the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary 

of State. See, e.g., Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., 343 U.S. at 588–89 (holding 

that President Truman did not act within his constitutional power in seizing steel 

mills and affirming the district court’s decision enjoining the Secretary of 

Commerce from carrying out the order); Franklin, 505 U.S. at 802–03. 

We conclude that Plaintiffs’ injuries can be redressed fully by injunctive 

relief against the remaining Defendants, and that the extraordinary remedy of 

enjoining the President is not appropriate here. See Franklin, 505 U.S. at 803. We 

therefore vacate the district court’s injunction to the extent the order runs against 

the President, but affirm to the extent that it runs against the remaining 

“Defendants and all their respective officers, agents, servants, employees, and 

attorneys, and persons in active concert or participation with them.”
77 

E

The district court did err in enjoining the entirety of Sections 2 and 6, 

particularly the portions that pertain to interagency review, despite the 

Government’s requests for clarification and requests to narrow the injunction to 

enjoin conduct that actually harms Plaintiffs. The district court abused its 

discretion in enjoining inward-facing agency conduct because enjoining this 

conduct would not remedy the harms asserted by Plaintiffs. Further, the district 

court abused its discretion in enjoining the President. We would not be able to 

affirm in full the preliminary injunction even if Plaintiffs were also likely to 

succeed on their constitutional claims, for reasons that enjoining internal review 

procedures does not remedy harms to Plaintiffs and because it is improper to enjoin 

the President without necessity. As we have affirmed the injunction in part on 

statutory grounds, and vacated certain parts on the basis of considerations 

governing the proper scope of an injunction, we need not consider the 

constitutional claims here. 

VI

We affirm in part and vacate in part the district court’s preliminary 

injunction order. As to the remaining Defendants, we affirm the injunction as to 

Section 2(c), suspending entry of nationals from the six designated countries for 90 

days; Section 6(a), suspending USRAP for 120 days; and Section 6(b), capping the 
78 

entry of refugees to 50,000 in the fiscal year 2017. We vacate the portions of the 

injunction that prevent the Government from conducting internal reviews, as 

otherwise directed in Sections 2 and 6, and the injunction to the extent that it runs 

against the President. We remand the case to the district court with instructions to 

re-issue a preliminary injunction consistent with this opinion.25 

AFFIRMED in part; VACATED in part; and REMANDED with 

instructions. Each party shall bear its own costs on appeal.

 

25 The Government’s motion for a stay pending appeal is DENIED as moot.
79 

COUNSEL

Jeffrey Bryan Wall (argued), Acting Solicitor General; Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy 

Solicitor General; Sharon Swingle, Anne Murphy, Lowell V. Sturgill Jr., H. 

Thomas Byron III, and Douglas N. Letter, Attorneys, Appellate Staff; August E. 

Flentje, Special Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General; Elliot Enoki, Acting 

United States Attorney; Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant Attorney General; Civil 

Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; for DefendantsAppellants.

Neal Kumar Katyal (argued), Colleen Roh Sinzdak, Mitchell P. Reich, and 

Elizabeth Hagerty, Hogan Lovells US LLP, Washington, D.C.; Thomas P. 

Schmidt, Hogan Lovells US LLP, New York, New York; Sara Solow and 

Alexander B. Bowerman, Hogan Lovells US LLP, Philadelphia, PA; Douglas S. 

Chin, Attorney General; Clyde J. Wadsworth, Solicitor General; Deirdre MarieIha, Donna H. Kalama, Kimberly T. Guidry, and Robert T. Nakatsuji, Deputy 

Attorneys General; Department of the Attorney General, Honolulu, Hawai‘i; for 

Plaintiffs-Appellees.

Scott A. Keller, Solicitor General; J. Campbell Barker, Deputy Solicitor General; 

Ari Cuenin, Assistant Solicitor General; Ken Paxton, Attorney General; Jeffrey C. 

Mateer, First Assistant Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Austin, 

Texas; for Amici Curiae States of Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, 

Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South 

Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia, and Governor Phil Bryant of the State of 

Mississippi.

Amir H. Ali, Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, Washington, D.C.; 

Jessica M. Wan, Lisa W. Cataldo, and David J. Minkin, McCorriston Miller Mukai 

MacKinnon LLP, Honolulu, Hawai‘i; for Amicus Curiae The Roderick and 

Solange MacArthur Justice Center.

Robert D. Fram and Alexandra P. Grayner, Covington & Burling LLP, San 

Francisco, California; Andrew Guy, Michael Baker, Karun Tilak, and Ligia M. 

Markman, Covington & Burling LLP, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae 

Interfaith Coalition.

Kevin P. Martin, Eileen L. Morrison, Alicia Rubio, Joshua M. Daniels, William B. 

Brady, and Nicholas K. Mitrokostas, Goodwin Procter LLP, Boston, 

Massachusetts, for Amici Curiae The Foundation for the Children of Iran and 
80 

Iranian Alliances Across Borders.

Michael R. Scott, Lisa J. Chaiet Rahman, and Amit D. Ranade, Hillis Clark Martin 

& Peterson P.S., Seattle, Washington, for Amici Curiae Episcopal Bishops.

Dan Jackson, R. Adam Lauridsen, and John W. Keker, Keker, Van Nest & Peters 

LLP, San Francisco, California, for Amicus Curiae Khizr Khan.

Lary A. Rappaport, Proskauer Rose LLP, Los Angeles, California; Terrance Nolan, 

General Counsel and Secretary, New York University, New York, New York; 

Claire Wong Black and J. Blaine Rogers, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, Honolulu, 

Hawai‘i; Tiffany M. Woo, Seth D. Fiur, and Steven E. Obus, Proskaur Rose LLP, 

New York, New York; for Amicus Curiae New York University.

Aaron X. Fellmeth, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State 

University, Phoenix, Arizona; Jonathan Hafetz, Seton Hall University School of 

Law, Newark, New Jersey; Joseph M. McMillan and Michelle L. Maley, Perkins 

Coie LLP, Seattle, Washington; for Amici Curiae International Law Scholars and 

Nongovernmental Organizations.

Lindsay C. Harrison, Tassity S. Johnson, Erica L. Ross, and Thomas J. Perrelli, 

Jenner & Block LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Colleges and 

Universities.

Mary Kelly Persyn, Persyn Law & Policy, San Francisco, California, for Amicus 

Curiae American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

Jonathan M. Freiman and Tahlia Townsend, Wiggin and Dana LLP, New Haven, 

Connecticut; Harold Hongju Koh and Hope Metcalf, Rule of Law Clinic, Yale 

Law School, New Haven, Connecticut; for Amici Curiae Former National Security 

Officials.

Anna-Rose Mathieson and Ben Feuer, California Appellate Law Group LLP, San 

Francisco, California, for Amici Curiae Scholars of American Religious History & 

Law.

Richard D. Bernstein, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Washington, D.C., for 

Amicus Curiae T.A., a U.S. Citizen of Yemeni Descent.

Joshua Matz, Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber LLP, 
81 

Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Constitutional Law Scholars.

Marc A. Hearron, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Washington, D.C.; Purvi G. Patel, 

Morrison & Foerster LLP, Los Angeles, California; Amanda Aikman and Jennifer 

K. Brown, Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, New York; Sandeep N. 

Nandivada, Morrison & Foerster LLP, McLean, Virginia; for Amici Curiae 

Interfaith Group of Religious and Interreligious Organizations.

Anton A. Ware, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, San Francisco, California; 

Aziz Huq, Johnathan J. Smith, and Farhana Khera, Muslim Advocates, Oakland, 

California; for Amici Curiae Muslim Rights, Professional and Public Health 

Organizations.

David L. Franklin, Solicitor General, and Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Office 

of the Illinois Attorney General, Chicago, Illinois; for Amici Curiae States of 

Illinois, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, 

Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, 

Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, and the District of Columbia.

William S. Consovoy, Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC, Arlington, Virginia; 

Kimberly S. Hermann, Southeastern Legal Foundation, Marietta, Georgia; for 

Amicus Curiae Southeastern Legal Foundation, Inc.

Edward L. White III and Erik M. Zimmerman, American Center for Law and 

Justice, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Geoffrey R. Surtees and Francis J. Manion, 

American Center for Law and Justice, New Hope, Kentucky; Benjamin P. Sisney, 

Matthew R. Clark, Craig L. Parshall, Jordan Sekulow, Andrew J. Ekonomou, 

Colby M. May, Stuart J. Roth, and Jay Alan Sekulow, American Center for Law 

and Justice, Washington, D.C.; for Amicus Curiae American Center for Law and 

Justice.

Pratik A. Shah and Martine E. Cicconi, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, 

Washington, D.C.; Robert S. Chang, Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and 

Equality, Seattle, Washington; Eric Yamamoto, Fred T. Korematsu Professor of 

Law and Social Justice, Honolulu, Hawai‘i; Claire Wong Black and Louise K.Y. 

Ing; Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, Honolulu, Hawai‘i; Alice Hsu and Robert A. 

Johnson, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, New York, New York; Jessica 

M. Weisel, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Los Angeles, California; for 

Amici Curiae Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, Jay Hirabayashi, 

Holly Yasui, Karen Korematsu, Civil Rights Organizations, and National Bar 
82 

Associations of Color.

Richard B. Katskee, Carmen Green, Bradley Girard, Kelly M. Percival, Andrew L. 

Nellis, and Eric Rothschild, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 

Washington, D.C.; Gillian Gillers and Kristi L. Graunke, Southern Poverty Law 

Center, Atlanta, Georgia; for Amici Curiae Members of the Clergy, Americans 

United for Separation of Church and State, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for 

Justice, The Riverside Church in the City of New York, and The Southern Poverty 

Law Center.

Benna Ruth Solomon, Deputy Corporation Counsel; Edward N. Siskel, 

Corporation Counsel; City of Chicago Department of Law, Chicago, Illinois; 

Eliberty Lopez, Brian Neff, and Ryan P. Poscablo, Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila 

LLP, New York, New York; Nick Kahlon, Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP, 

Chicago, Illinois; for Amici Curiae Cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, 

Philadelphia, and Other Major Cities and Counties.

Linda A. Klein, President, American Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois; Jared S. 

Stein, Arianna Markel, Erin J. Morgan, Aidan Synnott, and Sidney S. Rosdeitcher, 

New York, New York; for Amicus Curiae American Bar Association.

Jonathan A. Scruggs and Kevin H. Theriot, Alliance Defending Freedom, 

Scottsdale, Arizona, as and for Amicus Curiae Alliance Defending Freedom.

Richard P. Bress, Alexandra P. Schechtel, and Elana Nightingale Dawson, Latham 

& Watkins LLP, Washington, D.C.; Christopher Mortweet, Latham & Watkins 

LLP, Menlo Park, California; for Amicus Curiae Oxfam America, Inc.

Christopher J. Hajec, Mark S. Venezia, and Elizabeth A. Hohenstein, Immigration 

Reform Law Institute, Washington, D.C., as and for Amicus Curiae Immigration 

Reform Law Institute.

G. Eric Brunstad, Jr., Dechert LLP, Hartford, Connecticut, for Amici Curiae HIAS, 

The IRC, and USCRI.

Steve W. Berman, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Seattle, Washington; Leo 

Gertner, Deborah L. Smith, Claire Prestel, and Nicole G. Berner, Service 

Employees International Union, for Amicus Curiae Service Employees 

International Union; Judith Rivlin, Washington, D.C., as and for Amicus Curiae 

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; Channing M. 
83 

Cooper and David J. Strom, Washington, D.C., as and for Amicus Curiae 

American Federation of Teachers.

Peter Jaffe, Brent Wible, Lauren Kaplin, and Daniel Braun, Freshfields Bruckhaus 

Deringer US LLP, Washington, D.C.; Karen Wiswall and David Y. Livshiz, 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP, New York, New York; for Amicus 

Curiae Cato Institute.

Kenneth A. Klukowski, Alexandria, Virginia, as and for Amicus Curiae American 

Civil Rights Union.

Elizabeth B. Wydra, David H. Gans, and Brianne J. Gorod, Constitutional 

Accountability Center, Washington, D.C.; Peter Karanjia and Jason Harrow, Davis 

Wright Tremaine LLP, Washington, D.C.; Raymond H. Brescia, Associate 

Professor of Law, Albany Law School, Albany, New York; Victor A. Kovner, 

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, New York, New York; for Amici Curiae 165 

Members of Congress.

Michael J. Gottlieb, Aaron E. Nathan, Cain Norris, J. Wells Harrell, Isra Bhatty, 

and Joshua Riley, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Washington, D.C.; Eli Glasser, 

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; for Amici Curiae Former 

Federal Immigration and Homeland Security Officials.

Andrew J. Pincus and Paul W. Hughes, Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, D.C., for 

Amici Curiae Technology Companies.

Nathaniel C. Love and Robert N. Hochman, Sidley Austin LLP, Chicago, Illinois; 

Charles Roth, National Immigrant Justice Center, Chicago, Illinois; for Amicus 

Curiae National Immigrant Justice Center; Gail Pendelton, Suffield, Connecticut, 

as and for Amicus Curiae ASISTA; Jennie Santos-Bourne, Miami, Florida, as and 

for Amicus Curiae Americans for Immigrant Justice; Linda A. Seabrook, General 

Counsel, San Francisco, California, as and for Amicus Curiae Futures Without 

Violence; Jean Bruggeman, Arlington, Virginia, as and for Amicus Curiae 

Freedom Network USA; Amily K. McCool, Durham, North Carolina, as and for 

Amicus Curiae North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Victor Williams, Bethesda, Maryland, pro se for Amicus Curiae America First 

Lawyers Association.

Scott L. Winkelman, Justin Kingsolver, Avi Rutschman, and Luke van 
84 

Houwelingen, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae 

Tahirih Justice Center, The Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, 

Casa de Esperanza, and National Domestic Violence Hotline.

James W. Kim, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Washington, D.C.; Albert Giang, 

Rachana Pathak, Meredith S.H. Higashi, Navdeep Singh, and Tina R. Matsuoka, 

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Washington, D.C.; for Amicus 

Curiae National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Brett R. Tobin, Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel LLP, Honolulu, Hawai‘i; Daniel 

L. McFadden, Christopher E. Hart, Kristyn DeFilipp, and Michael B. Keating, 

Foley Hoag LLP, Boston, Massachusetts, for Amicus Curiae Massachusetts 

Technology Leadership Council, Inc.

Avi Gesser, Ilan Stein, Jennifer Prevete, Alex Messiter, Joseph Garmon, and 

Kelsey Clark, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, New York, for Amici 

Curiae Association of Art Museum Directors, American Alliance of Museums, 

Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, College Art Association, and 

101 Art Museums.

Herbert W. Titus, Jeremiah L. Morgan, William J. Olson, and Robert J. Olson, 

William J. Olson P.C., Vienna, Virginia; Michael Boos, Citizens United, 

Washington, D.C.; Joseph W. Miller, U.S. Justice Foundation, Ramona, California; 

for Amici Curiae U.S. Justice Foundation, Citizens United, Citizens United 

Foundation, English First Foundation, English First, Public Advocate of the United 

States, Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Conservative Legal 

Defense and Education Fund, U.S. Border Control Foundation, and Policy 

Analysis Center.

Benjamin G. Shatz, Ketakee Kane, Olufunmilayo Showole, Matthew Bottomly, 

Sirena Castillo, John W. McGuinness, and Amy Briggs, Manatt Phelps & Phillips 

LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Amici Curiae Muslim Justice League, Islamic 

Circle of North America, and Council of American-Islamic Relations, California.

Claire Loebs Davis, Taylor Washburn, and Jessica N. Walder, Lane Powell PC, 

Seattle, Washington, for Amici Curiae Law Professors.

Lena F. Masri, National Litigation Director, Council on American-Islamic 

Relations, Washington, D.C.; Gadeir I. Abbas, Law Office of Gadeir Abbas, 

Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae Muslim Civil Rights Activists Linda Sarsour, 
85 

Rashida Tlaib, Zahra Billoo, Basim Elkarra, Hussam Ayloush, Alia Salem, Adam 

Soltani, Imraan Siddiqi, Namira Islam, Karen Dabdoub, Jim Sues, Hanif Mohebi, 

and Jaylani Hussein.

Ester Sung, Melissa S. Keaney, Nicholas Espíritu, and Karen C. Tumlin, National 

Immigration Law Center, Los Angeles, California; Justin B. Cox, National 

Immigration Law Center, Atlanta, Georgia; Mark Doss, Lara Finkbeiner, Stephen 

Poellot, and Rebecca Heller, International Refugee Assistance Project at the Urban 

Justice Center, New York, New York; for Amici Curiae National Immigration Law 

Center and International Refugee Assistance Project.

Nicole Y. Altman, Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel LLP, Honolulu, Hawai‘i; 

Lilly Landsman-Roos and John B. Harris, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC, New 

York, New York; Michael Lieberman, Melissa Garlick, Lauren A. Jones, and 

Steven M. Freeman, Anti-Defamation League, New York, New York; Doron F. 

Ezickson, Anti-Defamation League, Washington, D.C.; Alyssa T. Saunders and 

David E. Mills, Cooley LLP, Washington, D.C.; David Bohm, Danna McKintrick 

P.C., St. Louis, Missouri; for Amici Curiae Anti-Defamation League, Jewish 

Council for Public Affairs, Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of 

American Rabbis, and Women of Reform Judaism.

Alan C. Turner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, New York, New York; Jonathan 

Mincer and Harrison Frahn, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Palo Alto, 

California; for Amici Curiae Human Rights First, Kids in Need of Defense

(KIND), City Bar Justice Center, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, 

Catholic Migration Services, the Door’s Legal Services Center, Safe Passage 

Project, and Sanctuary for Families.

Matthew E. Sloan, Alyssa J. Clover, Richard A. Schwartz, and Allison B. 

Holcombe, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Los Angeles, California; 

Jennifer H. Berman and Eric J. Gorman, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom 

LLP, Chicago, Illinois; Jonathan Fombonne, Sarah Grossnickle, and Noelle M. 

Reed, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Houston, Texas; Joseph M. 

Sandman, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Washington, D.C.; Aaron 

Morris, Immigration Equality, New York, New York; Virginia M. Goggin, New 

York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, New York, New York; Glenn 

Magpantay, The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, New York, New 

York; for Amici Curiae Immigration Equality, New York City Gay and Lesbian 

Anti-Violence Project, and National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance.
86 

Lynn Lincoln Sarko, Alison S. Gaffney, Derek W. Loeser, Amy Williams-Derry, 

and Tana Lin, Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Seattle, Washington; La Rond Baker and 

Emily Chiang, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington Foundation, Seattle, 

Washington; Laurie B. Ashton, Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Phoenix, Arizona; Alison 

Chase, Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Santa Barbara, California; for Amici Curiae Joseph 

Doe, James Doe, and the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia.

Patricia S. Rose, Seattle, Washington, for Amici Curiae One Million Kids for 

Equality and African Human Rights Coalition.