Raquel Dominguez , Sarah Mahmood  //  4/26/17  //  Daily Update

A judge in the Northern District of California issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against President Trump’s executive order authorizing the withholding of federal grant money from sanctuary cities.  President Trump abandoned his demand that this week’s spending bill, needed to avoid a government shutdown, include funding for his proposed border wall.  President Trump has asserted presidential immunity in response to a lawsuit filed by individuals injured at one of his campaign events.  And Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, likely violated federal law by not disclosing business dealings with Russia.

IMMIGRATION

Judge William H. Orrick, of United States District Court for the Northern District of California, issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the executive order authorizing the withholding of federal grant money from sanctuary cities (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).

• The opinion can be found here.

President Trump abandoned his demand that this week’s spending bill include funding for his border wall, but remains firm that the wall will eventually be built (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).

The federal government has secured agreements to add over 2,000 beds to the immigration prison network, with another 1,500 bed expansion planned for sites in Texas and Illinois (Crimmigration).

C-SPAN cameras will broadcast next month’s Ninth Circuit oral arguments in the travel ban case live (The Hill).

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has expressed concern that arresting immigrants at courthouses can impede access to justice (Immigration Prof Blog).

Prosecutorial discretion at the Department of Homeland Security in the immigration context – particularly when it is guided by uniform principles – serves an important role, argues Shoba Wadhia (Yale Journal on Regulation).

Laila Lalami argues in the New York Times that an expanded definition of the border, hedged constitutional protection during border screenings, and prosecutorial discretion create a proliferation of virtual borders akin to any physical wall that not only keeps others out but also hems residents in.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Removing hate speech from the ambit of protected First Amendment speech, while likely not advisable, is possible, writes Michael C. Dorf for Take Care.

• Josh Blackman agrees (Josh Blackman’s Blog).
• And the ACLU weighs in here.

DEMOCRACY

Technology, social media, fake news, and the erosion of legacy institutions are shaping elections and political movements, argues Nathan Persily (Journal of Democracy).

• Bob Bauer responds that the problem of fake news has risen in public prominence, but it can be hard to define as it requires an arbiter of truth (More Soft Money Hard Law).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

President Trump has asserted presidential immunity in response to a lawsuit filed by three people injured at one of his presidential campaign events.  Writing for Take Care, Neil J. Kinkopf argues that the presidential immunity defense in this case is an erroneous assertion and could lead to sanctions under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the lawyer who filed the response.

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) have requested that President Trump explain the administration’s legal justification for its recent airstrike in Syria (Twitter, The Hill).

• John Dehn argues for Just Security that use of armed force against another nation, even if limited as in Syria, is an act of war outside a president’s independent constitutional authority to instigate.

Under U.N. rules, the U.S. missile strikes in Syria are probably illegal and could move the Syrian conflict into the category of international armed conflict, writes Nancy Simons (Opino Juris). 

Tom Dannenbaum argues in Just Security that U.S. officials should be aware that use of force can be an international crime of aggression,and while the U.S. is not subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, there may be other consequences.

President Trump signed two proclamations in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust and Meds Yeghern.

• The text of these proclamations can be found here and here.
• Turkey criticized the proclamation on Meds Yeghern (Hurriyet Daily News).

President Trump criticized the U.N. as an “underperformer” and high cost, but stated that the organization has “tremendous potential” (Politico).

• U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, serving as the president of the U.N. Security Council for the month of April, has raised the profile of the U.N. within the Trump Administration while acting as a spokesperson for U.S. foreign policy, argues Colum Lynch (Foreign Policy).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Matthew Stephenson weighs when and if legal and regulatory decisions that have benefited President Trump can be considered emoluments (Global Anti-Corruption Blog).  

Watchdog group Democracy 21 asked Jared Kushner to recuse himself from several policy areas to avoid conflicts of interest with his businesses (WaPo).

REGULATION

The Trump Administration’s new formulas for cost-benefit analyses for regulating agencies can mask the costs imposed by pollution, writes Eli Savit for Take Care.

Trump’s proposal to slash the budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Service would drastically reduce American seafood supply, write Bren Smith, Sean Barrett, and Paul Greenberg (NYT).

The New York Times outlined the issues to watch for in President Trump’s proposed tax plan, slated to be announced on Wednesday.

The Trump Administration announced that Randolph Alles, a retired Marine Corps general and acting deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, will head the Secret Service (NYT).

The Trump Administration will impose new tariffs on lumber imports from Canada, America’s second-largest trading partner (NYT, WaPo).

• Trump likely picked Canada in an effort to look tough against a country that can’t retaliate, writes Adam Behsudi (Politico).

Politico lists the federal positions Trump has not yet filled.

The Trump Administration vowed to undo the Obama Administration’s requirement that employers provide birth control to their employees under the Affordable Care Act, but the Justice Department has yet to halt its appeal in East Texas Baptist University v. Price (WaPo).

Trump has shortlisted Doug Seaton, a union-busting lawyer, for nomination to the National Labor Relations Board (Politico).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, likely violated federal law by not disclosing business dealings with Russia, according to the heads of the House Oversight Committee (NY Times, WaPo).

• The Trump Administration rejected a request from the House Oversight Committee to produce more documents regarding income Flynn received from foreign governments, including Russia (The Hill).

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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