A White House official has attacked the US appeals court over its suspension of the President's immigration ban, which could require backing evidence if it goes to the Supreme Court.
Donald Trump Photo: AFP
Washington State's Attorney-General Bob Ferguson said he would request to see the evidence behind US President Donald Trump's immigration order if it went to the Supreme Court.
Mr Ferguson said he wanted to uncover "what truly motivated" the president's executive order banning all refugees, and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from the United States.
He said documents and emails authored by White House officials could contain evidence the order was an unconstitutional attempt to ban Muslims, and he would use "every tool" to bring those documents to light.
Since its signing in late January, the order had given rise to several lawsuits, including one lodged by the Washington and Minnesota state governments.
Two courts so far have agreed with their arguments, and the immigration bans remain suspended.
A White House official has attacked the federal appeals court over its block of Mr Trump's executive order, calling it a "judicial usurpation of power".
"The president's powers here are beyond question," White House adviser Stephen Miller said on the Fox News Sunday programme.
Mr Miller referred to the immigration law that the executive order was based on, which gives the president broad powers to restrict who enters the country on national security grounds.
However, the same law forbids discrimination on race, sex, nationality or place of birth or residence. The case also could involve First Amendment protections involving religion.
The executive order Mr Trump issued banned entry into the United States to refugees, and to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, triggering mass protests.
A week later, a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order that put the president's travel ban on hold, eliciting a barrage of angry Twitter messages from the president.
The judge's suspension order was upheld by a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday.
The Trump administration's options to continue the ban include formulating a new executive action, appealing the 9th Circuit panel's decision to the full appeals court, and appealing the emergency stay to the Supreme Court, Mr Miller said.
"We have multiple options and we are considering all of them," he told ABC's This Week.
- Reuters