Rex Heinke Quoted in The Mercury News on Options for Appeals of Trump Travel Ban

The Mercury News has quoted Akin Gump Supreme Court and appellate practice co-head Rex Heinke in the article “Trump sending ruling blocking travel ban to San Francisco appeals court,” which addresses the Trump administration’s decision to appeal a travel ban ruling by a federal court in Hawaii. (Akin Gump is serving as pro bono counsel to the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality on an amicus brief filed before the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii in the case.)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where the appeal will be heard, already ruled against an earlier version of the travel ban. President Trump at the time decided not to pursue the case to the Supreme Court. This time, however, Heinke thinks Mr. Trump would see the appeal all the way through if he were to lose at the Circuit Court level.

“It seems to be likely that the administration will take this to the Supreme Court,” Heinke said. “The first travel ban seemed to be put together rather hastily and had not been thoroughly vetted. Here, the administration seems to have put more time and effort into it, and is presumably more committed to defending it.”

Within the next few days, Heinke said, President Trump likely will ask for a stay of the Hawaii judge’s order, which would temporarily reinstate the travel ban. That request might be heard by a panel of three judges, or the judges might make a decision without a hearing.

“It’s going to be quite important as to the scope of presidential power over immigration,” Heinke said. “There’s also the more political aspects of it, which is simply whether the president is going to be successful in pursuing his agenda.”