[JURIST] The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [offical website] upheld [opinion, PDF] an injunction against President Trump’s third travel ban [JURIST news archive] last Friday.

The three-judge panel stated that under the Immigration and Nationality Act [materials], the President must first “make a legally sufficient finding that the entry of the specified individuals would be ‘detrimental to the interests of the United States.'” The panel found that the President, even in light of the review period [JURIST report] included in the second travel ban, did not make such a finding.

The review conducted by US authorities under the second travel ban focused largely on other countries’ information-sharing protocols with the US when it comes to granting immigrants visas. The court stated that this review served largely to “ensure that foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States are who they claim to be.” In light of this focus, the court noted that the second travel ban “makes no finding whatsoever that foreign nationals’ nationality alone renders entry of this broad class of individuals a heightened security risk to the United States.”

In the absence of such a finding, the court ultimately concluded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their case and upheld the injunction, but only in part. Thus, the injunction will allow only those who have a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” into the country.

An appeal of the matter is expected.