Proving Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Is Unconstitutional: Appeals Court To Hear Controversial Executive Order

Will challengers of Donald Trump’s travel ban finally win and prove that the controversial executive order is unconstitutional at the upcoming federal appeals court hearing?

When Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13769, entitled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States—known to many as the travel ban—in January 27, the whole world retaliated. In the simplest terms, according to the White House files, the travel ban put a 50,000 limit to refugees entering the US, suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for 120 days, refused entry to any Syrian refugees, and barred people coming from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the US.

This executive order, however, Inquisitr previously reported, has since been shot down by two federal judges in the US, which has prompted the Trump administration to revise the executive order into removing religious biases from its text.

Despite the revisions introduced into Trump’s executive order which puts the travel ban in place, many dissenters still assert that the said EO is actually unconstitutional. As The Washington Post has put it, the new and revised executive order is “still indefensibly cruel, and still unconstitutional for many of the same reasons as the original.”

From a moral perspective, hundreds of thousands of refugees are being denied entry into the US and for most of these people, who are mere casualties in a terrible war in their own homes, 120 days could mean a matter of life and death.

From a legal perspective, Trump’s travel ban, albeit revised, still dangerously discriminates against those of Muslim religion since the executive order specifically targets citizens of Muslim countries. And as the courts have repeatedly emphasized, Trump and Rudy Giuliani’s anti-Muslim statements are relevant to assessing the constitutionality of the executive order, whether or not the words “of Muslim religion” are explicitly stated in its text. At the end of the day, is the executive order really “protecting the nation from foreign terrorists” or is it just a blatant discriminatory move against those of the minority religion?

Well, the question of whether those against Trump’s travel ban finally get the courts to rule Executive Order 13769 unconstitutional is getting answered soon. Daily Progress reports that a courtroom of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will be hearing arguments Monday, May 8, in the case that has put a temporary restraint on Donald Trump’s travel ban.

What is the hearing about?

The hearing on Monday is about the Trump government appealing to the courts the injunction made by U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang against the executive order in March. Chuang’s injunction has specifically blocked the part of Trump’s travel ban order that bars citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entry to the US.

Chuang’s 43-page ruling on Trump’s revised executive order notes that the travel ban is not a security measure but essentially nothing more than a Muslim ban:

While the travel ban bears no resemblance to any response to a national security risk in recent history, it bears a clear resemblance to the precise action that President Trump described as effectuating his Muslim ban.

Trump’s administration, however, will fight that the statements Donald Trump has made “before he swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution” (which means when he was still a presidential candidate) shouldn’t be taken into the hearing; and that the countries specified in the travel ban were not chosen based on the religion the country practices but on the fact that they present terrorism risks.

How can we listen to the hearing?

This is the first time that the courts are providing a live audio broadcast of a hearing “due to intense public interest,“ Wralreports. The appeals hearing on May 8, 2.30 p.m. EDT, will be broadcast on C-SPAN and will be streaming live from a link that will be provided by the court on its website.

When will we know the results?

Alabamanotes that it could take weeks before the judges could issue their written verdict regarding Trump’s executive order, which we predict could go well into June.

After the hearing at the federal appeals court, whichever side loses could then again file an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Are you pro or against Trump’s executive order imposing the nationwide travel ban?

[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]