Travel ban judges scrutinize Trump's Muslim statements
Source: Associated Press
Travel ban judges scrutinize Trumps Muslim statements
By GENE JOHNSON
25 minutes ago
SEATTLE (AP) Federal judges on Monday peppered a lawyer for President Donald Trump with questions about whether the administrations travel ban discriminates against Muslims and zeroed in on the presidents campaign statements, the second time in a week the rhetoric has faced judicial scrutiny.
Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, who is defending the travel ban, told a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that over time, the president clarified that what he was talking about was Islamic terrorist groups and the countries that sponsor or shelter them. He argued that the executive order halting travel from six majority Muslim nations doesnt say anything about religion, and neither the state of Hawaii nor an imam from that state who wants his mother-in-law to visit has standing to sue.
This order is aimed at aliens abroad, who themselves dont have constitutional rights, Wall said in a hearing broadcast live on C-Span and other news stations.
Neal Katyal, who represented Hawaii, scoffed at that argument and said Trump had repeatedly spoke of a Muslim ban during the presidential campaign and after.
This is a repeated pattern of the president, Katyal said.
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