Trump Travel Ban Suffers New Court Defeat #TrumpTravelban

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Mr Trump’s travel ban has led to protests

A US appeals court has upheld a decision blocking President Trump’s revised “travel ban” on people from six mainly Muslim nations.

A lower court had issued the injunction on the grounds that the ban was discriminatory after a challenge by the state of Hawaii.

The 90-day ban was to apply to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

It also called for a 120-day ban on all refugees.

The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was reviewing a March ruling by a Hawaii-based federal judge that blocked parts of Mr Trump’s order.

It followed another ruling in May by a different court, the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, that upheld a Maryland judge’s ruling that also blocked parts of Mr Trump’s revised ban.

Earlier this month the Trump administration filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court to block the Hawaii and Richmond rulings and revive the ban.

Trump’s Luxury Hotel In New York, Once Hot, Now Is Not

Discount property. (Reuters/Jessica Rinaldi)

First went the professional athletes. Then went the sushi restaurant. Now employees and a fixture of a five-star hotel—turndown service—are the latest to go from a five-star Trump hotel in lower Manhattan.

The 391-room Trump SoHo in lower Manhattan is laying off staff amid a slump in business and asking for less than $400 a night from previous rates of around $700, according to WNYC.

The five-star property, which gets high marks from many guests, is taking its downmarket turn just four months after Donald Trump, whose company runs the hotel, took the US presidency.

Trump opposers such as basketball star LeBron James and even entire NBA teams have refused to stay at Trump-branded properties. WNYC reported a downturn in corporate event bookings at the hotel, which had booked events for companies like Amazon and GE. Celebrities and regular diners have stayed far enough away from hotel sushi restaurant Koi that the eatery last month announced it would close. A server told Grub Street that “the Kardashians stopped coming.”

A hotel spokeswoman told Quartz that “as is common in the hotel industry, and in any business, we continually assess our offerings and services.”

It isn’t entirely clear what is the source of the hotel’s woes. Trump’s new hotel in Washington, just steps from the White House, is humming despite protests about potential conflicts of interest.

But others in Trump’s hometown have shown an aversion to his name. Residents of the Trump Place complex on Manhattan’s West Side petitioned for the president’s name to be removed from the buildings’ façades. And, of course, Trump lost all but Staten Island to Hillary Clinton in voting during the presidential campaign.

A slide in the SoHo hotel’s popularity defies lodging trends in New York City. The number of hotels in the city by the end of 2016 was 631, up nearly 30% from 2011, the year after the Trump SoHo opened, according to data from hotel-analysis firm STR. Occupancy is also up, to 86% last year from 82% in 2011, even as the popularity of home-and-room-sharing platform Airbnb has surged.

Things could get worse for Trump SoHo. In the wake of Trump’s ban on travelers from several majority-Muslim countries, New York’s tourist agency forecast the city’s first decline in foreign visitors since the 2008 financial crisis.

WRITTEN BY Leslie Josephs

No Travel Ban To The United States: The United States Court of Appeals Declares Ban Would Target Muslims Travelers And Is Not A Security Issue

By

 Juergen T Steinmetz

President Donald Trump suffered another defeat in trying to put a ban in place for certain nations to be able to travel to the United States of America. The travel ban block stands after the 4th Circuit Courts of Appeals of the United States ruled against a ban to restrict or ban travel to the US for citizens of some Muslim majority countries. This was the second time US President Trump was putting such a ban in place.

The court decision was not anonymous and partly was based on issues other than the issue. The majority of the appeals court judges agreed the ban is targeting Muslim travelers and is not necessarily based on a security concern.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: District of Maryland. Eastern District of North Carolina. Middle District of North Carolina.

It upholds the suspension of a revised version of the executive order that the Trump administration crafted to better hold up to legal scrutiny than an earlier version.

Trump has insisted that the measure is necessary to prevent possible terrorist attacks. But courts in previous rulings blocking its enforcement have cited past statements from Trump and his advisors signaling that it may single out Muslims.

Federal Judge In Hawaii Blocks Trump’s Travel Ban 2.0, Extended Wednesday 3/30 #TrumpTravelBan

A federal judge in Hawaii granted the state’s request to block President Trump’s revised travel ban. Trump has said his administration will appeal.

 US District Court Judge Derrick Watson has extended his restraining order against the ban, finding that the order violates the religious establishment clause in the US Constitution.

Swaying the judge’s decision was the remark made by Trump while he was campaigning for President of the United States when he said, “I think Islam hates us,” and what he also said in a later interview that the Muslim ban has morphed into extreme vetting.

The judge said that the State of Hawaii had shown there would be damages to its tourism industry, including to its universities and overall economy.

USA Today: Trump Unfit To Lead #nevertrump

From USA Today USA TODAY's Editorial Board: Trump unfit to lead http://usat.ly/2dIjh8C In the 34-year history of USA TODAY, the Editorial Board has never taken sides in the presidential race. Instead, we’ve expressed opinions about the major issues and haven’t presumed to tell our readers, who have a variety of priorities and values, which choice is best for them. Because every presidential race is different, we revisit our no-endorsement policy every four years. We’ve never seen reason to alter our approach. Until now.This year, the choice isn’t between two capable major party nominees who happen to have significant ideological differences. This year, one of the candidates — Republican nominee Donald Trump — is, by unanimous consensus of the Editorial Board, unfit for the presidency.

Culinary Union Launches National Boycott Of Trump Businesses #BoycottTrump #NeverTrump

LAS VEGAS, Vegas – A #BoycottTrump campaign urging customers to not eat, sleep, or play at many Trump hotels and golf courses comes in the wake of federal officials' denying Trump Hotel Las Vegas' objections to a December 2015 union election, during which the majority of workers at the hotel voted to join the Culinary Union, the largest affiliate of UNITE HERE.

Citing federal law allowing boycotts for the purpose of forcing an employer to honor their duty to bargain, UNITE HERE, the parent union of the Culinary Union which is certified as the bargaining representative of workers at Trump Hotel Las Vegas, has called for a national boycott of businesses Donald J. Trump owns, has invested in, or has partnered with until the Trump Hotel Las Vegas honors its legal duty to bargain with the union.

Union members recently picketed at Trump National Golf Course Los Angeles, announcing the boycott from inside the clubhouse restaurant, and union locals have planned further boycott events for September 29 in Waikiki and San Francisco, and October 1 and 18 in Chicago. More actions are expected to follow in Virginia, New York and Florida.

"Enough is enough," said UNITE HERE President D. Taylor. "While Donald Trump waged an indefensible anti-worker and anti-immigrant presidential campaign, the workers at his Las Vegas hotel fought for dignity and respect in their workplace. They voted to unionize, they won, and now the law says Trump must negotiate."

Prior to the boycott call, thousands of union members and supporters have demonstrated outside Trump Hotel Las Vegas. "Donald Trump's a disrespectful hypocrite, and we stand in solidarity with the workers at Trump Hotel Las Vegas," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. "His unwillingness to bargain with the hard-working people who make his hotel successful is shameful. It tells you all you need to know about his feelings toward all working people."

"At the hotel in the morning we chant 'No Contract, No Peace! No Contract, No Peace!" said Eleuteria Blanco, a guestroom attendant at the Trump Hotel Las Vegas. Over 57,000 union workers in Las Vegas have fair wages, job security, and good health benefits—in stark contrast to workers at Trump Hotel Las Vegas who pay up to $260 per month for their health insurance, and are paid approximately $3.00 less per hour in comparison to union workers on the Strip. "We're not second class workers," Blanco added.

Trump Hotel Las Vegas management waged a hostile anti-union campaign. Hotel management hired anti-union labor consultants, paying them more than half a million dollars. Alleged offenses against management include suspensions of employees for union activities, as well as threats and interrogations against union supporters.

"After a disgraceful anti-union campaign against their own workers, the hotel still refuses to negotiate with their employees," said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. "We call on allies and workers to stand in solidarity in a national boycott until Donald Trump, the 'Great Negotiator,' comes to the table."

In Canada, workers at the Trump International Hotel Toronto ratified their first contract seven months after voting to join UNITE HERE.

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent over 57,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 270,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.

The Culinary Union is Nevada's largest immigrant organization with over 57,000 members – a diverse membership that is approximately 55% women and 56% Latino. Members -who work as guest room attendants, bartenders, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, and kitchen workers- come from 167 countries and speak over 40 different languages. The Culinary Union has been fighting for fair wages, job security, and good health benefits for working men and women in Nevada for over 80 years.

The Culinary Union is encouraging Nevada locals, political candidates, and tourists to avoid staying at/or patronizing hotels under an active labor dispute such as Station Casinos, Palms Casino Resort, and the Trump Hotel Las Vegas.

The Small Business Owners Trump Never Paid In Full #NeverTrump #TheRealDonaldTrump

By Laura Dolan and Jessica Schneider, CNN

Updated 8:39 AM ET, Wed September 14, 2016

Donald Trump's small business disasters 05:32

(CNN)"It was like we won the lottery," Beth Rosser remembers. Her dad, Forest Jenkins, had just secured a $200,000 contract to work at the biggest prize in Atlantic City: Donald Trump's Taj Mahal.

His company installed toilet partitions -- not exactly glamorous, but important nonetheless. It was 1988, and a six-figure contract was huge.

Businesses could pose conflicts of interest for a President Trump

"It was a big job. It was great. We were all excited," says Forest's son Steven Jenkins. Jenkins spent a month working at the Taj. "I had the fuzz from those carpets on the wheels of my dolly for months after that job."

But what seemed like a winning ticket soon turned into a nightmare when the paycheck never came.

"We weren't this big company," remembers Rosser, who now runs the company with her brother, Steven. "We didn't have tons of money in an account somewhere to cover things."

Jenkins says his dad, who built the company from nothing, nearly lost everything.

Forest Jenkins

The Taj Mahal, the most expensive casino ever built in Atlantic City filed for bankruptcy in 1991, just two years after its glitzy grand opening. The bankruptcy meant companies like Triad Building Specialties didn't get paid.

After years of fighting through bankruptcy court, the Jenkins ended up with just 30 cents on the dollar. Their company was owed $231,000, according to the bankruptcy claim filed in the case. The Jenkins family received $70,000.

"It's 27 years later. I grit my teeth every time I see him on television blustering about what a wonderful businessman he is."

Beth Rosser

The Jenkins family realized they weren't alone. Dozens of contractors who had worked on the construction were also getting stiffed.

"It's 27 years later. I grit my teeth every time I see him on television blustering about what a wonderful businessman he is," Rosser says. "He stepped on a lot of people."

CNN reached out to the Trump campaign about each of the business deals mentioned in this story. Those calls went unanswered.

'I tried to stand up to him ... but it's exhausting'

Nat Hyman also knows what it's like to lose money at the hands of Trump.

"When he's nice, he's very, very nice. And when he's nasty, he's immensely nasty. He is as rough as they get," says Hyman, who claims he spent years buried in litigation with Trump.

In 1996, Hyman was a young entrepreneur who thought he landed a great deal when he secured a kiosk inside the Trump Tower lobby for his costume jewelry company, Landau Jewelry. His nascent business flourished and, eventually, the jeweler was able to negotiate deals with Trump to open additional kiosks inside his Atlantic City casinos.

Hyman's kiosk Landau Jewelry at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

But then Hyman's success was stymied. He claims his kiosk inside Trump Tower was in a prime location, so Trump tried to force him out of the spot. Trump's lawyers sent letters citing "the poor quality of the merchandise" -- a claim Hyman says was unfounded.

When Hyman wouldn't move, he says Trump retaliated against him by canceling his leases for the Atlantic City casinos and burying him in legal paperwork.

"I think I spent over a million dollars in litigation with him," Hyman says.

Hyman eventually left Trump Tower after 14 years. Trump replaced the jeweler's kiosk with his own merchandise that bore his name.

If he had to do it all over again, Hyman says he would have never gone into business with the real-estate tycoon.

"I tried to stand up to him everywhere I could but it's exhausting, and it's silly. To him, it's a sport. To him, it's fun."

A family business that was 'blackballed'

On the campaign trail in June, Trump promised the crowd that his business experience would create thousands of new jobs.

"We will make it very, very good for our companies, for our small business and for people that want to survive and do well in our country," Trump pledged.

But Paul Friel says his dad's small business went under at the hands of the billionaire.

Paul and Joann Friel

The Edward J. Friel Company built cabinets for Trump's first Atlantic City casino in the early 1980s. The company was awarded a $400,000 contract to build cabinets for the slot machines at Trump Plaza.

After the work was completed and approved by the general contractor, Friel expected a payment of $84,000, which would have covered the final expenses and all of the profit. But Friel says Trump bought out the construction contract from the general contractor, Perini Corporation, and then refused to make the payment.

It was a shock to his father, Friel remembers.

"We had already worked for three (general contractors), and every single one of them lived up to their word until Donald Trump came to Atlantic City," Friel says.

The slot machines at Trump Plaza.

Friel's father tried to recoup the money he was owed but eventually gave up. Friel believes Trump used his enormous influence to block his father's company from working on any future Atlantic City projects.

"I think it surprised him the most that Donald Trump had blackballed him ... even though we had an excellent name in Atlantic City," Friel says.

After struggling to stay afloat, the Edward J. Friel Company filed for bankruptcy several years later.

"He was devastated. The fact that we had seen such a huge future in Atlantic City for his business that all of a sudden because of one deal ... his business in Atlantic City was done," Friel says.

At the Republican National Convention in Cleveland Trump promised to prosperity for America, saying: "I have made billions of dollars in business making deals. Now I'm going to make our country rich again."

Friel says he's speaking out on behalf of his father, who died in 2006.

"He would say, 'Paul, do this for us...let the country know what kind of man this is."

Never Trump For Dummies #nevertrump

ENLARGE

Donald Trump speaks in New York, Sept. 8. PHOTO: ZUMA PRESS

By 

BRET STEPHENS

Q: How can you call yourself a conservative columnist when you’re rooting for Hillary Clinton in this election?

A: Because Donald Trump is anti-conservative, un-American, immoral and dangerous.

Q: And Hillary Clinton is a conservative who personifies all that we hold dear as Americans and has a terrific record in government?

A: Not at all. She’s conventionally liberal, politically opportunistic and ethically challenged.

Q: And you support her?

A: I wish it weren’t so. But what’s the choice?

Q: The choice is a Republican candidate who may disagree with Wall Street Journal orthodoxies on trade and immigration but otherwise wants to cut taxes and regulations, strengthen defense, appoint conservative judges, and take advice from people like Mike Pence and Paul Ryan.

A: You seem to think we elect a policy menu. My fundamental objection to Mr. Trump is that he is unfit, as a person, to be president.

Q: Oh, please. I’ll grant he’s a bit rough around the edges, but that’s because he’s a nonpolitician. He’s also a brilliant businessman who made billions of dollars.

A: I might believe that claim if he would release his tax returns, or if six of his businesses hadn’t gone bankrupt, or if he hadn’t been involved in more than 4,000 lawsuits, or if he didn’t routinely shortchange his suppliers or stiff his charities.

Q: Spoken like an elitist who doesn’t know what it’s like to run a business.

A: The successful entrepreneurs I know run their businesses with prudence, openness and integrity.

Q: Still, you can’t argue with success.

A: What Mr. Trump has achieved isn’t success. It’s notoriety. He has more in common with Kanye West than he does with Steve Wynn.And he isn’t just rough around the edges. He’s rotten to the core.

Q: Why, because every so often he says something ill-considered or politically incorrect? We’ve all said things we regret. Hillary lies all the time.

A: The difference is that Mrs. Clinton lies tactically to protect herself politically. Mr. Trump lies compulsively to aggrandize himself or belittle vulnerable people, whether it’s a handicapped reporter or a bereaved mother.

Q: They’re both flawed characters. But we’re electing a president, not the pope. And as a conservative, his views are much closer to mine.

A: Mr. Trump’s nativist brand of politics is much further removed from conservatism than Mrs. Clinton’s mainstream liberalism.

Q: And how do you define conservatism?

A: A principled commitment to limited government, free markets, constitutional rights, equal opportunity, personal responsibility, e pluribus unum and Pax Americana.

Q: Trump believes in most of that.

A: Except he doesn’t, starting with the Constitution. His plan to end birthright citizenship runs afoul of the 14th Amendment. His threat to “open up those libel laws” so he can sue his critics is a threat to press freedom. His attack on “Mexican” Judge Gonzalo Curiel was an assault on the American creed.

Q: That was just Trump spouting off.

A: What you call “spouting off” is an insight into Mr. Trump’s mind. It betrays an instinctive illiberalism. That’s why he attracts so much praise from Jean-Marie Le Penand David Duke. It’s why he keeps praising Vladimir Putin.

Q: Trump praises Putin because he’s popular at home, respected abroad and gets things done. That used to be true of U.S. presidents like Eisenhower, but it isn’t true of Barack Obama. Isn’t it time we had an effective leader?

A: Putin isn’t respected. He’s feared. Any thoughtful conservative would sooner have an incompetent democratic government than an efficiently autocratic one.

Q: We’ve got $19 trillion in debt, a murder rate on the rise, Islamic State on a rampage, and millions of working-age men who have given up looking for work. Sorry, but these are not normal times.

A: We’ve overcome worse—think of the 1970s. What isn’t normal is the sudden taste for buffoonish leaders preaching drastic remedies. It’s one thing for the Philippines to elect a character like Rodrigo Duterte. It’s another for his American equivalent to become leader of the free world.

Q: This is America, with institutions to provide checks and balances against an overreaching president. Speaking of institutions, what have you got to say about the fact that we’re one justice away from losing the Supreme Court to liberals for a generation?

A: What makes you so sure that a man who disdains a strict interpretation of the Constitution would appoint strict constructionists?

Q: Look, with Hillary I know what I’m getting and it’s a disaster. With Trump, there’s a chance he’ll keep his promises and grow in office.

A: If you’re truly confident in American institutions, then we’ll ride out Mrs. Clinton just as we have Mr. Obama. As for Mr. Trump, the man you see as nominee is the man you’ll get as president, only with more vanity and vastly more power. As the man himself likes to say, “You think I’m going to change? I’m not changing.” That’s one promise you know he’ll keep.

By bstephens@wsj.com.