Fourth Circuit’s Decision: Muslim Ban Remains Unconstitutional

RICHMOND, VA — The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today refusing to lift the nationwide injunction on President Trump’s Muslim and refugee ban. The court’s opinion in International Refugee Assistance Project, et al. v. Donald Trump, et al. affirms the plaintiffs’ right to challenge an executive order and upholds their claims under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The National Immigration Law Center and the ACLU filed this case on behalf of the International Refugee Assistance Project, HIAS, the Middle East Studies Association, and others.

Karen Tumlin, legal director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“The Fourth Circuit’s decision today is yet another resounding indictment and rejection of the Trump administration’s Muslim and refugee ban. While the administration has tried to justify its ban under an unfounded and unclear cloak of national security, the courts continue to call it out for what it is: religious intolerance, racial animus, and discrimination.

“The court’s opinion upholds our most sacred and cherished constitutional principles by again affirming what our founders intended when writing the First Amendment — that our government may not favor or disfavor one religion over another, or establish any one particular religious orthodoxy. Our founders were clear in protecting that fundamental principle more than 200 years ago, and our institutions continue to stand guard to ensure it endures any and every attempt to undermine it.

“While the spotlight today is on the Muslim ban, the truth is that this executive order is just one part of President Trump’s xenophobic agenda. We will continue to fight to ensure that all people — regardless of where they were born, what they earn, or how they pray — can live freely and be treated fairly in this country.”

The decision issued today is available at www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IRAP-v-Trump-4th-Cir-affirming-and-vacating-2017-05-25.pdf.

More information about IRAP v. Trump is available at www.nilc.org/issues/litigation/irap-v-trump/.

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