Doe v. Trump

• Citation: 288 F.Supp.3d 1045
• Decision Date: 23 December 2017
• Docket Number: CASE NO. C17–0178JLR, CASE NO. C17–1707JLR
• Parties: John DOE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Donald TRUMP, et al., Defendants. Jewish Family Services, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Donald Trump, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Washington

288 F.Supp.3d 1045

John DOE, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Donald TRUMP, et al., Defendants.

Jewish Family Services, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Donald Trump, et al., Defendants.

CASE NO. C17–0178JLR

CASE NO. C17–1707JLR

United States District Court, W.D. Washington, At Seattle.

Signed December 23, 2017

Alison Chase, Keller Rohrback LLP, Santa Barbara, CA, Alison Gaffney, Amy C. Williams–Derry, Derek W. Loeser, Tana Lin, Lynn Lincoln Sarko, Keller Rohrback, Emily Chiang, Lisa Nowlin, ACLU of Washington, La Rond Baker, Office of Attorney General (Civil Rights Unit), Seattle, WA, Laurie B. Ashton, Keller Rohrback LLP, Phoenix, AZ, Abigail E. Davis, Deepa Alagesan, Kathryn C. Meyer, Lauren E. Aguiar, Linda Evarts, Mariko Hirose, Mollie M. Kornreich, New York, NY, David J. Burman, Lauren Watts Staniar, Tyler S. Roberts, Perkins Coie, Seattle, WA, Elizabeth G Sweet, Mark J. Hetfield, Silver Spring, MD, Esther Sung, Karen C. Tumlin, Melissa S. Keaney, Los Angeles, CA, Justin B. Cox, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiffs.

August E. Flentje, Arjun Garg, Joseph Dugan, Michelle R. Bennett, Department Of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND ORDER ISSUING A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

(RELATING TO BOTH CASES)

JAMES L. ROBART, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

The work of this court, and more broadly of the federal Judiciary, is to resolve disputes between parties; that is what the court endeavors to do today in ruling on the two motions before it. Plaintiffs in both cases are refugees, who find themselves in dire circumstances, their family members who yearn to be reunited with them, and humanitarian organizations whose fundamental mission is to help these vulnerable refugees resettle in the United States. Plaintiffs in both cases present compelling circumstances of irreparable harm inflicted by the federal agencies' action at issue here. Nevertheless, the fundamental question the court must resolve is did the federal agencies act within their legal authority? If so, the court does not intervene, but leaves the decision to the other two branches of government—Congress and the Executive. Today, however, the court intervenes and preliminarily enjoins the federal agencies' action. It does so because, at this early stage in the proceedings, Plaintiffs show that they are likely to succeed on their claims that the agencies exceeded their statutory authority and also that they meet the other qualifying factors necessary for preliminary injunctive relief.

One further note: This is an area of rapidly developing law with related cases presently on appeal and decisions anticipated shortly.¹ Plaintiffs, however, seek a decision now and are entitled to one given the facts in this case. In deciding these motions, the court must rely on the precedent currently available to it. The court understands that appellate courts may issue additional guidance in the days to come. If the parties believe that the court should revisit any portion of today's decision on the basis of subsequent authority, they should raise this to the court's attention through appropriate motions. The court now turns to the motions at hand.

Before the court are two motions seeking to preliminarily enjoin certain aspects of Executive Order No. 13,815 ("EO–4"), § 3(a), 82 Fed. Reg. 50,055 (Oct. 27, 2017), and its accompanying memorandum to Defendant Donald Trump, President of the United States, from Defendants Rex Tillerson, Secretary of the Department of State ("DOS"), Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), and Daniel Coats, Director of National Intelligence ("DNI") (Lin Decl. (Dkt. # 46) ¶ 3, Ex. B (attaching a copy of the memorandum) (hereinafter, "Agency Memo") ). Plaintiffs John Doe, Jack Doe, Jason Doe, Joseph Doe, James Doe, Jeffrey Doe, the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, and the Council on American Islamic Relations–Washington (collectively, "Doe Plaintiffs") filed the first motion for a preliminary injunction in Doe, et al. v. Trump, et al. , No. C17–0178JLR (W.D. Wash.) ("the Doe Case"). (See Doe PI Mot. (Dkt. # 45).) Shortly after Doe Plaintiffs filed their motion, Plaintiffs Jewish Family Service of Seattle ("JFS–S"), Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley ("JFS–SV"), Allen Vaught, Afkab Mohamed Hussein, John Does 1–3 and 7, and Jane Does 4–6 (collectively, "JFS Plaintiffs") filed a separate action in JFS–S, et al. v. Trump, et al. , No. C17–1707JLR (W.D. Wash.) ("the JFS Case") and a second motion for a preliminary injunction. (See JFS Compl. (17–1707 Dkt. # 1); JFS PI Mot. (17–1707 Dkt. # 42).)² Recognizing that both cases and motions for preliminary injunction concerned EO–4 and the Agency Memo, the court consolidated the cases. (See OSC re: Consol. (Dkt. # 52); Stip. Re: Consol. (Dkt. # 60); Consol. Order (Dkt. # 61).) Following consolidation, Doe Plaintiffs joined JFS Plaintiffs' motion, and JFS Plaintiffs joined Doe Plaintiffs' motion. (Doe Joinder (Dkt. # 62); JFS Joinder (17–1707 Dkt. # 70).)

In addition to the parties' briefing (see Doe PI Mot.; JFS PI Mot.; Doe Resp. (Dkt. # 51); JFS Resp. (Dkt. # 77); Doe Reply (Dkt. # 54); JFS Reply (Dkt. # 79); Doe Joinder; JFS Joinder ; Doe Supp. Br. (Dkt. # 76); JFS Supp. Br. (Dkt. # 73); Def. Supp. Br. (Dkt. # 78) ), the court has considered the relevant portions of the record, and the applicable law. Further, the court heard oral argument on December 21, 2017. Being fully advised, the court (1) GRANTS Doe Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, and (2) GRANTS JFS Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction except for those refugees who lack a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.³ See Trump v. Int'l Refugee Assistance Project , ––– U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 2080, 2089, 198 L.Ed.2d 643 (2017) (" IRAP ").

II. BACKGROUND

A. The President's Executive Orders on Immigration and Refugees

1. EO–1

One week after his inauguration, President Trump issued Executive Order No. 13,769, 82 Fed. Reg. 8,977 (Feb. 1, 2017) ("EO–1"). In addition to suspending the entry of aliens from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days, EO–1 suspended the United States Refugee Admission Program ("USRAP") for 120 days and banned the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely. Id. §§ 3(c), 5(a), 5(c). During the 120–day suspension of USRAP, EO–1 directed the Secretaries of DOS and DHS and the DNI to conduct a security review of USRAP. Id. § 5(a). In this period, refugees could be admitted on a case-by-case basis only if their admission was "in the national interest," which was defined to include when a person is "a religious minority in his country of nationality facing religious persecution." Id. § 5(e). EO–1 further directed that when USRAP resumed, DOS was 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. § 5(b).

On February 3, 2017, this court issued a nationwide temporary restraining order ("TRO") enjoining EO–1, including the suspension of USRAP. Washington v. Trump , No. C17-0141JLR, 2017 WL 462040, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 3, 2017), stay pending appeal denied , 847 F.3d 1151 (9th Cir. 2017), appeal dismissed , No. 17-35105, 2017 WL 3774041 (9th Cir. Mar. 8, 2017). On appeal, the Ninth Circuit interpreted the court's TRO to be a preliminary injunction and declined the Government's request to stay this court's order. Washington v. Trump , 847 F.3d 1151 (9th Cir. 2017), appeal dismissed , No. 17-35105, 2017 WL 3774041 (9th Cir. Mar. 8, 2017).

2. EO–2

After the Ninth Circuit's ruling, President Trump abandoned his efforts to defend EO–1, and issued Executive Order No. 13,780, 82 Fed. Reg. 13,209 (Mar. 9, 2017) ("EO–2"). EO–2 expressly revoked EO–1. EO–2 § 13. EO–2 was similar to EO–1 except that it omitted the explicit preference for religious minorities and the indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees. EO–2 directed another review of USRAP and restarted the 120–day suspension of USRAP during the new review period, subject to case-by-case waivers. Id. §§ 6(a), (c). EO–2 stated that the suspension of USRAP was necessary to allow the agencies to "determine what additional procedures should be used to ensure that individuals seeking admission as refugees do not pose a threat to the security and welfare of the United States."Id. § 6(a). EO–2 also stated that at the conclusion of the review period, USRAP adjudications would resume for stateless persons and nationals of countries for which the agencies "determined that the additional procedures implemented ...[we]re adequate to ensure the security and welfare of the United States." Id.

Before EO–2 could take effect, a federal district court in Hawaii issued a TRO, holding that EO–2 violated the Establishment Clause. See, e.g. , Hawaii v. Trump , 245 F.Supp.3d 1227, 1230 (D. Haw. 2017), hearing en banc denied sub nom. Hawaii v. Trump , 864 F.3d 994 (9th Cir. 2017), aff'd in part, vacated in part, remanded sub nom. Hawaii v. Trump , 859 F.3d 741 (9th Cir. 2017), cert. granted sub nom. Trump v. Int'l Refugee Assistance Project , ––– U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 2080, 198 L.Ed.2d 643 (2017), and cert. granted, judgment vacated , ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S.Ct. 377, 199 L.Ed.2d 275 (2017), and vacated , 874 F.3d 1112 (9th Cir. 2017), and appeal dismissed as moot sub nom. Hawaii v. Trump , 874 F.3d 1112 (9th Cir. 2017). The Ninth Circuit upheld the district court's decision on the ground that President Trump failed to invoke the proper authority to suspend refugee admissions. Hawaii v. Trump , 859 F.3d 741, 776 (9th Cir. 2017), cert. granted sub nom. Trump v. Int'l Refugee Assistance Project , ––– U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 2080, 198 L.Ed.2d 643 (2017), and cert. granted, judgment vacated , ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S.Ct. 377, 199 L.Ed.2d 275 (2017), and vacated , 874 F.3d 1112 (9th Cir. 2017)(" Hawaii I "). In addition, a federal district court in Maryland and the Fourth Circuit...