We reported earlier this month that President Trump had issued a revised "travel ban" Executive Order, which was scheduled to go into effect today, March 16th. In the last 24 hours, two courts have issued nationwide injunctions / restraining orders affecting significant portions of the revised Executive Order.
Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii granted a temporary restraining order brought by the state and an individual plaintiff. The decision applies nationwide. Specifically, the court held that Section 2 of the revised Executive Order was unconstitutional under the First Amendment to the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which prevents the government from favoring or discriminating against one religion compared to another. Accordingly, the 90-day suspension of entry for nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen was found to be unconstitutional given the context of its enactment, which the court determined was to target Muslim immigration. The court also restrained Section 6 of the Executive Order, which would have paused the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and limited numbers overall.
In a separate action today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland similarly issued an injunction relating to Section 2(c) of the Executive Order, relating to the six-country travel ban. In concurring that the government's actions violated the Establishment Clause, the court found that the President's actions were also unlawful under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court did, however, decline to enjoin the entire Executive Order.
The government is expected to appeal the decisions, perhaps to eventually result in the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. We will continue to keep our clients and partners updated as litigation continues.
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