Eve Levin, Helen Klein Murillo  //  3/24/17  //  Daily Update

Secretary of State Tillerson has instructed U.S. embassies to increase scrutiny of visa applicants. President Trump's proposed healthcare bill raises the same constitutional concerns that conservatives so vehemently invoked while attacking the Affordable Care Act. Calls continue for a select committee or independent commission to investigate collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia.

IMMIGRATION

Reliance on President Obama’s non-enforcement policies—including immigration and marijuana policies—is generally not protected, as Zachary Price explains for Take Care.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered an expedited briefing schedule on the revised travel ban and set argument for May 8 (WSJ, Politico).

• Lyle Denniston details the administration’s scheduling requests.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii has been subject to threats in the wake of his ruling against the administration’s revised travel ban (NYT).

Diplomatic cables sent by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson instructing American embassies to increase scrutiny of visa applicants signaled the Trump Administration’s first step toward so-called “extreme vetting” (NYT, Reuters).

• At the Brennan Center, Andrew Lindsay warns that “extreme vetting” could, if taken to its extreme, criminalize Islam.
• At The Intercept, Alex Emmons details activists’ concerns with the move.
• At The Nation, Alex Kane details the effects of the travel ban on Muslim travelers.

A weekly report identifying state and local law enforcement agencies that do not comply with federal immigration officials raises constitutional issues, and it also makes Latino immigrants less safe, says the NYT Editorial Board (NYT).

The main effect of federal immigration home raids is not deportation but rather the spread of fear among immigrants, explains Tanya Golash-Boza at The Conversation.

A wide-ranging coalition condemns Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly’s statement that DHS could require noncitizens to provide the passwords to their social media accounts as a condition of entering the country, in an open letter.

An Indiana business owner with no criminal record, who authorities have known for years to be in the country illegally, will be deported Friday, exemplifying changing enforcement priorities, reports Alejandro Lazo at the Wall Street Journal.

Canada’s largest school district indefinitely suspended travel to the United States due to concerns about students being denied entry (NYT).

CIVIL RIGHTS

President Trump’s budget blueprint may signal drastic cuts for programs under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), explains Dr. Jamila Taylor at Rewire.

The ACLU identifies key issues missing from testimony by FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogerson’s testimony about incidental surveillance of Americans under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

President Trump has unleashed a massive assault on free speech in practice and principle, as David Cole recounts in the New York Review of Books.

Responding to Joseph Blocher’s analysis on Take Care, several scholars have proposed an alternative constitutional basis for a federal concealed carry reciprocity mandate (Volokh Conspiracy).

RULE OF LAW

“In the face of opportunities to increase his power, destroy the opposition, and build his new political order, President Trump will once again gaze upon the darkening skies and see only sunshine,” as Mark Danner explains in the New York Review of Books.

Chief Justice John Roberts should speak out against President Trump’s attacks on the judiciary, argueJohanna Kalb and Alicia Bannon of the Brennan Center for Justice (TIME).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch shied away from revealing his views on President Trump and the Emoluments Clause (WaPo).

The Government Services Agency (GSA) has stated that the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. is not in violation of its federal lease (NPR).

• Democratic legislators criticized the GSA’s decision (here)
• Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington also condemned the decision.

REGULATION

Despite President Trump’s lobbying, House Republicans postponed a planned vote on a bill to replace the Affordable Care Act (NYT).

• Trump’s bill contains all of the constitutional flaws asserted by Republicans against the Affordable Care Act, argues Leah Litman on Take Care.

Despite the Trump administration’s impending “rampage against environmental laws,” there are avenues for climate advocates at the state and local levels, argues John Podesta (Center for American Progress).

• At Legal Planet, Dan Farber describes Trump’s early appointees to the EPA as a “motley crew.”

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau plans to start its review of significant mortgage regulations (CFPB Monitor). 

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The Department of Justice’s policy reversal on private prisons is dangerous, explains Chiraag Bains on Take Care.

Ivanka Trump’s proposed White House role not only flouts ethical norms, but also poses a national security threat, argue Helen Klein Murillo and Susan Hennessey (WaPo).

Familiar roll-out and credibility problems plague the Administration’s electronics ban on flights from certain Middle East airports, notes J. Dana Stuster (Lawfare).

CHECKS & BALANCES

Congress should block Trump Administration budget cuts to the State Department, as those cuts will be detrimental to national security (The Hill).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Senator John McCain has called for a Senate Select Committee or Independent Commission to investigate Russian interference and possible collusion by the Trump campaign (WaPo).

• Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes have recapped their arguments for why a select committee is superior to an independent commission (Lawfare).

Representative Adam Schiff, Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said yesterday that there is “more than circumstantial evidence” of Trump associates’ collusion with Russia (Politico).

• At Just Security, Kate Brannen looked at what he might mean by “more than circumstantial.”

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