美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Travel Ban Returned To Court, With President's Words At The Center

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

One of President Trump 1's top priorities will get a test in court today. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., will hear arguments about the legality of the president's revised travel ban. The White House says restricting visitors from six majority Muslim countries protects national security. Immigration advocates say it's an unconstitutional attack on Muslims.

NPR's Carrie Johnson has been covering the case. And she's on the line now. Good morning, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE 2: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: It's been a while since we talked about the president's executive order limiting travel. Remind us what it says.

JOHNSON: Remember, this is the White House's second attempt at a travel ban. The first one provoked a lot of chaos 3 at airports all over the country in January. It had a hard time in the courts too, Rachel, partly because it included green card holders 4 who have rights under the U.S. Constitution.

This new executive order came out March 6. It restricted entry to the U.S. for people from six countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - for 90 days. It also restricted refugee admissions for 120 days.

MARTIN: OK. So all those six countries, those are countries with Muslim majority populations. But the White House didn't specifically mention religion in any way in the revised order. So how are lawyers making the case that this is unconstitutional?

JOHNSON: That's true. The order does not speak about Muslims or preferring Christian 5 travelers over Muslims explicitly 6. But people who are suing over the ban - people in the U.S. who've been separated from their loved ones in one of those six countries - say the whole order is a pretext 7 for banning Muslims. They say they're simply taking the president at his word.

Recall, President Trump said he'd close the border to Muslims on the campaign trail, hinted at it again this year. And that, the plaintiffs say, violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment 8. That language says the government's supposed to be neutral when it comes to religion. And the plaintiffs are also arguing that the EO violates immigration law because if - immigration law forbids discrimination on the basis of national origin.

MARTIN: What about the idea, though, that the president - any president - has a lot of power when it comes to protecting the country's borders and ports of entry? Presumably, that has a lot to do with how the government - this administration is defending the ban.

JOHNSON: That is going to be the heart of the Justice Department's argument on behalf of the Trump White House today. DOJ says this is simply a temporary suspension of entry that was done to protect national security - a chance to pause, come up with better vetting 9 procedures.

The Trump administration says that alone is a good enough legitimate 10 reason for this travel ban. They say the court doesn't need to delve 11 any deeper into any statements the president or his advisers 12 made. And besides, they point out the new order says travelers can get a waiver from the ban case by case.

MARTIN: You've been covering the evolution of this travel ban since the beginning. So, Carrie, today in the courtroom, what are you looking to hear and see?

JOHNSON: Yeah. Each side is going to get about a half an hour to argue. ACLU lawyer Omar Jadwat is arguing for the people with family overseas and refugee groups, the plaintiffs. And acting 13 Solicitor 14 General Jeffrey Wall is going to be arguing for the government.

No ruling is expected from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals today. But we may be able to get some sense of where the court's going from the kinds of questions the judges are going to ask today.

MARTIN: There's a nationwide stay on the travel ban order for now. So what happens to that? What comes next?

JOHNSON: Well, we're going to be waiting for an - the argument today and then a ruling. But this argument does not signal the end of the road. There's so much litigation over this travel ban, Rachel.

In fact, Monday, one week from today, a federal appeals court for the 9th Circuit will hear related arguments in a case brought by the state of Hawaii. A lot of people think the Supreme 15 Court is going to be the ultimate decider in this case.

MARTIN: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Carrie, thanks so much.

JOHNSON: You're welcome.