Britany Riley , Julia Sherman  //  4/17/17  //  Daily Update

A federal court in California heard argument Friday in San Francisco and Santa Clara County's challenge to President Trump's executive order threatening to withhold federal funding from sanctuary jurisdictions. President Trump is filling White House posts with officials who have potential financial conflicts of interest. People across the country protested over the weekend to pressure Trump to release his tax returns. And Trump's long-forthcoming tax-reform plan continues to stall amid the White House's renewed interest in healthcare reform.

IMMIGRATION

Arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal records have doubled under the Trump Administration (WaPo).

A Court heard argument on Friday in San Francisco’s challenge to President Trump’s “sanctuary city” executive order (Reuters, ImmigrationProf Blog).

• After the arguments, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera released a statement claiming the Trump Administration had been forced “to back down.”  
• San Francisco’s complaint can be found here.

The Trump Administration’s proposed policy requiring foreign visitors to disclose social media passwords is an ill-advised attack on the First Amendment, argues Jameel Jaffer at Just Security.  

President Trump should lift the revised entry ban and align U.S. refugee policy with his professed concern for Syrian civilians, argues Joanne Linn (ACLU).

CIVIL RIGHTS

Undocumented women, who already often lack access to healthcare, will be especially hurt by a new law targeting Planned Parenthood, notes Tina Vasquez (Rewire).

DEMOCRACY 

The broken American political system that elected President Trump must restore the economic and political middle, argues Jamal Greene at Take Care.

The Trump Administration will no longer release visitor logs, a sharp departure from the Obama Administration’s policy of transparency (NYT).

• This further chips away at the American people’s trust in the President argues the Editorial Board of the Washington Post.
• At Sunlight Foundation, Alex Howard writes that the secrecy of White House visitor logs indicates that the Trump Administration is allergic to transparency.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo sharply criticized Wikileaks, warning that the CIA will aggressively turn its attention to ending publication of government secrets (The Hill).

• This is a blatant and hypocritical attack on Free Speech, argues Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept.
• Director Pompeo’s remarks can be found here.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

As the DOJ hides police data and moves away from investigating racialized police violence, advocates lose an important tool, explain Leah Litman and Helen Klein Murillo in the part two of the Information Wars Series at Take Care.

• Part I of the series can be found here.

It is important to distinguish the Trump Administration’s military actions from those of the Obama Administration, highlights Kate Brannen at Just Security.

As the conflict between the U.S. and North Korea escalates, lawmakers urge President Trump to look to China for help (WaPo).

• But the U.S. must take into account China’s promise to defend North Korea, explain Julian Ku and Chris Mirasola at Lawfare. 

The Trump Administration’s decision to strengthen U.S. ties to Bahrain and remove human rights restrictions will likely result in more instability in the Gulf Region, argues Murtaza Hussain (The Intercept).

President Trump’s use of “the Mother of All Bombs” does not run afoul of any international humanitarian law, explain Michael Schmitt and Lt. Cdr. Peter Barker at Just Security.

• The drastic move may have negative strategic consequences for the U.S. in Afghanistan, argues Max Boot (NYT). 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 

People around the country protested on Saturday, demanding to see President Trump’s tax returns (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).

• Trump’s continuing refusal to release his tax returns has prompted doubts about his entire presidency, writes Kylie Toscano (CREW).
• Jonathan H. Adler questions whether states can force President Trump to released his tax returns (WaPo). 

President Trump is staffing the White House and federal agencies with people rife with potential conflicts of interests, report Eric Lipton, Ben Protess, and Andrew W. Lehren (NYT).

Private citizens challenging President Trump in emoluments suits could have standing under Akins v. FEC, writes Jed Shugerman (Shugerblog).

REGULATION

It would be constitutional for the federal government to tax wealth, write Walter Dellinger and Dawn Johnsen at Take Care.

Education Secretary Betsey DeVos’s efforts to reduce student-loan accountability prove that she cares more about profits than students, argues Danielle D’Onfro (Take Care).

A Republican bill, drafted as part of a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, would make medical malpractice suits harder to win, notes Robert Pear (NYT).

The President’s renewed interest in repealing the Affordable Care Act is undermining Republican efforts at tax reform,writes Richard Rubin (WSJ).

• At Dorf on Law, Neil H. Buchanan arguesthat Administration incompetence is hindering efforts to alter the tax code.

Five Obama-era tech policies are on the Trump Administration’s chopping block, reports Harper Neidig at The Hill. 

Industry leaders invited by the Trump Administration to give policy advice primarily criticized the Environmental Protection Agency, reports Juliet Eilperin (WaPo).

Top officials from the Trump Administration will reportedly debate leaving the Paris Climate Agreement on Tuesday (The Hill, Politico).

• EPA Chief Scott Pruitt’s Thursday statements regarding the Paris Agreement exemplify the Administration’s weaknesses, writes Dan Farber (Legal Planet).

Final guidance on implementing the regulation Executive Order solidifies the order’s existing legal problems, argue Michael Burger and Jessica Wentz (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law).       

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Representative Mike Conaway is now leading the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian inference in the 2016 election, replacing Representative Devin Nunes who partially stepped aside amid a Congressional Ethics Office investigation into his potential disclosure of classified information (NYT).

And that's our update today! Thanks for reading. We cover a lot of ground, so our updates are inevitably a partial selection of relevant legal commentary.

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