President Trump’s Immigration Executive Order Heads to the Fourth Circuit

The Trump Administration issued its replacement Immigration Executive Order on March 6, 2017 (Order No. 13,780).  This Executive Order arrived three weeks after several federal courts, including the EDVa and the Ninth Circuit, enjoined enforcement of core terms of the earlier Immigration Executive Order (Order No. 13,769).

In this Blog Post, we report on two federal court rulings blocking enforcement of the replacement Immigration Executive Order. EDVa has not yet been drawn into this legal battle.  But it is emerging that Judge Brinkema’s analysis in her widely-reported February 13, 2017 decision in Aziz v. Trump provides the template for judicial review of the new Executive Order.  This Post revisits Judge Brinkema’s decision and shows how the decisions this week from federal courts in Hawaii and in Maryland have tracked her analysis.  This analysis will soon be scrutinized in the Fourth Circuit, as, the Government noticed its appeal late on Friday night (March 17).

We previously reported on Judge Brinkema’s ruling in Aziz v. Trump granting the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction.  Judge Brinkema ruled that Virginia would likely prevail on its Establishment Clause claim and issued a narrowly-drafted Preliminary Injunction Order.  No appeal was taken by the Government.

The Aziz v. Trump decision is significant not so much for developments in Immigration Law (although it has significance consequences), but for the three-step analysis applied by Judge Brinkema: (1) It was first decided that Virginia had standing to challenge the Executive Order as a party whose own interests were at stake (the Court did not reach a decision on Virginia’s parens patriae standing theory); (2) her opinion then confirms that federal courts unquestionably have the authority to review the constitutionality of actions by the Executive Branch, including actions of the President; (3) and lastly, perhaps most importantly, a federal court does not have to accept the facial justifications offered for Executive Branch action, but may consider evidence of contrary, unconstitutional motives.

The Replacement Immigration Executive Order

The Administration’s replacement Immigration Executive Order is identically entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Injury into the United States.”  The Order seeks to restrict the entry of foreign nationals from specified countries and suspends entrance from the United States refugee program for a set time period.   The new Order seeks to address the Ninth Circuit’s February 9, 2017 decision in Washington v. Trump, and to some degree to answer concerns from Judge Brinkema’s February 13, 2107 Aziz v. Trump decision.

Some of the more obvious flaws and procedural frailties from the earlier Immigration Executive Order are either omitted or repaired, but the core of the order remains essentially unchanged.  That is, the so-called “travel ban” provisions remain in the Order.

The Hawaii Court’s Ruling and “Pretextual Justification”

The legal arguments have shifted slightly in the challenges to the new Immigration Executive Order. In the February challenges to the first Order, the Government argued that the President’s actions in the realm of national security could not be reviewed by a federal court. When Judge Brinkema and the Ninth Circuit forcefully batted down this argument, the Government was left without any factual defense.  Recall that Judge Brinkema’s opinion cited Virginia’s factual allegations showing evidence that the Order’s true purpose was to block Muslim entry into the United States.  The evidence included multiple quotes from Donald Trump on the campaign trail, and added quotations from Rudy Giuliani alleging that the purpose of Order was to make good on the so-called “Muslim Ban” campaign promises.

In wading into the Pretextual Justification issue, Judge Derrick K. Watson, from the Hawaii District Court, begins with an acknowledgment that “It is undisputed that the [new] Executive Order does not facially discriminate for or against any particular religion, or for or against religion versus non-religion.”  The Government argued that the core language was “religiously neutral,” and that the new Immigration Executive Order could not have been religiously motivated because “the six countries represent only a small fraction of the world’s 50 Muslim-majority nations, and are home to less than 9% of the global Muslim population . . . .”  The Government continued that “[C]ourts may not ‘look behind the exercise of [Executive] discretion’ taken ‘on the basis of a facially legitimate and bona fide reason.’”  In the Government’s analysis, this should have ended the case and defeated Hawaii’s arguments.

But the Hawaii federal judge did not stop with the Government’s argument.  He cited the Ninth Circuit’s February 9, 2017 decision regarding the earlier Immigration Executive Order in Washington v. Trump:  “It is well-established that evidence of purpose beyond the face of the challenged law may be considered in evaluating Establishment and Equal Protection Clause claims.”  This is the entry of the “Pretextual Justification” issue: Were the Trump Administration’s facially-neutral legal justifications intended to obscure a purpose of barring Muslim immigrants?

The allegations of anti-Muslim animus—taken in substantial part from the record in Aziz v. Trump—was obviously not going away.  Judge Watkins continued, “Any reasonable, objective observer would conclude, as does the Court for purposes of the instant motion for TRO, that the stated secular purpose of the Executive Order is, at the very least, ‘secondary to a religious objective’ of temporarily suspending the entry of Muslims.”

The evidentiary record before Judge Watson included more than the Trump campaign statements and promises, and more than the Giuliani commentary on a “Muslim ban.”  The judge had before him the earlier Declaration National Security Officers that criticized the Trump Administration’s arguments.   In the view of Judge Watson, the Administration’s case was further damaged a by February 21, 2017 statement by Stephen Miller, the President’s Senior Advisor.  Miller stated, “fundamentally, [despite ‘technical’ revisions meant to address the Ninth Circuit’s concerns in Washington v. Trump,] you are still going to have the same basic policy outcome [as the first].”

The Hawaii District Court found that the plaintiffs would likely prevail on their Establishment Clause claim.   Late on March 15, 2017, Judge Watson entered a nationwide TRO enjoining enforcement of Sections 2 and 6 of the new Immigration Executive Order.  Section 2(c) is the “travel ban” part of the Order, and Section 6 suspends the refugee program.

Maryland Federal Court Frames Issue as “Pretextual Justification”

Meanwhile, in the Maryland District Court, Judge Theodore D. Chuang authored a 43-page opinion in International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump.  Judge Chuang released his decision on March 16, 2017, along with a nationwide preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of Section 2(c) of the new Executive Order. Unlike the earlier cases involving the first Immigration Executive Order where the lead plaintiffs were the states, the plaintiffs in the Maryland action are nonprofit entities and several individuals. The Maryland District Court, however, had no difficulty finding that these plaintiffs have standing.

As in the Hawaii ruling, the Maryland plaintiffs prevailed on the Establishment Clause claim, the greatest vulnerability for the Immigration Executive Order.  The Court considered in some detail claims based on the Immigration and Nationality Act, but rejected those claims.  The Court also weighed and credited a number of the Government’s arguments. For example, the President’s assertions that the Order is driven by national security and foreign policy judgments is in the opinion recognized as a valid secular purpose.

Judge Chuang, citing Supreme Court precedent, framed the critical issue this way: “The question, however, is not simply whether the Government has identified a secular purpose for the travel band.  If the stated secular purpose is secondary to the religious purpose, the Establishment Clause would be violated.”  Here the Government’s argument that the case is only about a “facially legitimate and bona fide reason” for the Executive Branch action is rejected   The judge concludes that “in this highly unique case, the record provides strong indication that the national security purpose is not the primary purpose for the travel ban.”

Where Do We Go From Here?  To the Fourth Circuit.

The Government has now picked its battleground.   Late on Friday, March 17, 2017, the Government noticed its appeal of the Maryland District Court ruling to the Fourth Circuit.  While Judge Brinkema’s ruling will not formally reach the Fourth Circuit, her reasoning will be examined on appeal when the Circuit Court reviews Judge Chuang’s decision.

Under the current Briefing Order, the Government’s Opening Brief will be due on April 26, 2017 in the Fourth Circuit.  Unlike in last month’s Ninth Circuit consideration in the Washington case where the Government sought emergency review of the TRO, the Government is not seeking an emergency review of the Maryland District Court’s preliminary injunction ruling.  After the Government’s rough experience in the Ninth Circuit, it was probably an easy decision to go to Richmond rather than San Francisco.