Sarah Mahmood, Helen Klein Murillo  //  3/31/17  //  Daily Update

In litigation over the revised travel ban, a federal judge in Hawaii converted his temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction, and all parties endorsed an offer from the Fourth Circuit for initial en banc review. Seattle filed suit to challenge President Trump's executive order threatening to strip federal funds from sanctuary cities. Vice President Pence broke a tie in the Senate to send a bill to President Trump giving states permission to withhold federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood. Former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has offered to provide testimony to the congressional investigations into Russia, in exchange for immunity.

IMMIGRATION

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Hawaii converted his temporary restraining order against President Trump’s revised travel ban into a preliminary injunction (NYT).

• The order can be found here.
• Yesterday, the Justice Department filed a notice of appeal from the Hawaii ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (WaPo).
• Lyle Denniston breaks down the order and explains what options the Trump Administration has going forward.
• At Constitutional Law Prof Blog, Ruthann Robson analyzes the latest order.
• Josh Blackman offers a quick reaction comparing the orders issued by federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland.
• At Lawfare, Peter Margulies critiques the order as overbroad.
• The New York Times profiles individual plaintiffs across the sprawling legal challenges to the Administration’s travel ban.

Yesterday both DOJ and Plaintiffs endorsed an offer from the Fourth Circuit for initial en banc review of an order enjoining the revised travel ban (Lyle Denniston).

• This is the appeal from a ruling by Judge Chuang (D. Maryland).
• On Take Care, Amir Ali examines why the government would agree to initial en banc proceedings.

Seattle filed suit yesterday challenging President Trump’s executive order threatening to revoke federal funding from sanctuary cities (Politico, ABA Journal).

• The complaint can be found here.
• Kevin Johnson explains the city’s primary legal arguments: that the executive order is unconstitutionally vague and coercive, and that the city’s policies do not violate federal law (ImmigrationProf Blog).
• At Volokh Conspiracy, David Post proposes rebranding “sanctuary cities” as “constitutional cities,” arguing that these jurisdictions are not inhibiting law enforcement but rather protecting “cherished constitutional principles.”
• Michael Crowley of the Brennan Center for Justice argues that the Administration’s focus on sanctuary cities is detrimental to public safety.
• Meanwhile, Connecticut Governor Dannel Manoy unveiled a preparedness tool for undocumented parents in the event they are detained by ICE (BBC).

President Trump’s executive order increasing border security raises the stakes of Hernández v. Mesa, a cross-border shooting case pending before the Supreme Court, explains Leah Litman on Take Care.

Despite ongoing legal challenges, President Trump’s immigration policies—from the travel ban to threatening sanctuary cities—are exacting immediate harm, argues Heather Digby Parton (Salon).

• Agency officials report that fearful undocumented workers have stopped cooperating with Department of Labor investigations, which have historically operated independently of immigration enforcement (The Guardian).

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiary Daniel Ramirez Medina was released from ICE detention on Wednesday (Rewire).

Legislation in Texas could license private prison companies to operate family detention centers as child-care facilities (Rewire).

CIVIL RIGHTS 

The Trump Administration leveled two attacks on LGBTQ people this week, first in revoking anti-discrimination rules in government contracts and then in modifying the U.S. Census, argues Quita Tinsley (Feministing).

The election of President Trump has reinvigorated a movement for “extreme religious liberty” to the detriment of children, especially those in LGBTQ families, argues Marci Hamilton (Verdict).

Vice President Pence cast a tie-breaking Senate vote yesterday removing a procedural obstacle to repealing an Obama-era prohibition on states denying Title X family planning funding to providers who also offer abortion services (WSJ).

• Christine Grimaldi analyzes possible consequences (Rewire).

On Tuesday, House Republicans passed legislation to repeal Obama-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband privacy rules (WaPo).

• Senate Democrats are urging President Trump to veto the bill (The Hill).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has offered to provide testimony to congressional investigators examining Trump’s campaign ties to Russia, in return for immunity from prosecution (WaPo, NYT, NPR, WSJ).

• Alex Whiting writes that Flynn’s offer isn’t serious, but instead indicates that he may have nothing to say that would incriminate others (Just Security).
• On Thursday, the Senate Intelligence Committee held its first open hearing in its investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election (The Hill).

Senior White House officials shared secret intelligence reports favorable to the Trump administration with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Nunes (WaPo, NYT).

• Nunes had earlier denied that his source was the White House.
• Eli Lake explains that Nunes’s mishandling of confidential information may undermine any reform efforts against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which leaves open loopholes for incidental collection (Bloomberg).

REGULATION

Senior House Republicans said they expect the federal government to continue subsidy payments to health insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act for the remainder of the year, as House v. Price continues to be litigated (NYT).

The Trump administration has announced plans to overturn the Obama administration’s net neutrality rules (NYT).

EPA decided not to ban the pesticide chlorphyrifos on fruits and vegetables, rejecting an Obama-era conclusion that this chemical must be permanently banned at farms nationwide to avert harm to children and farm workers (NYT, WaPo, NPR).

• Environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council plan to ask the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decision.
• The Baltimore Sun points out the the lack of scientific evidence backing the decision.   

Environmental groups have sued the Trump administration over its approval of a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, claiming that the information used in their assessment was outdated (The Hill).

The House of Representatives has passed a bill to include more industry members on the EPA’s Science advisory board (The Hill).

CHECKS AND BALANCES

President Trump threatened to fight members of the House Freedom Caucus in the 2018 midterm elections if they don’t cooperate with his agenda (WaPo, NYT)

DEMOCRACY

NYT analyzes whether Trump has the power the change libel laws.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Trump plans to sign two executive orders today concerning abusive trade practices contributing to the U.S. trade deficit and the collection of duties from countries believed to be selling products below their cost of production in the U.S. (WaPo, NYT).

In a draft letter to Congress, the Trump administration outlined modest changes to NAFTA, in spite of President Trump’s earlier rhetoric lambasting the deal (WSJ).

• Critics have compared this proposal to the defunct TPP deal negotiated by the Obama administration.

Two journalists are suing the Trump administration for erroneously being placed on a “kill list” of people targeted by US for deadly drone strikes (Politico).

The Trump administration has ceased disclosing information regarding the number of U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Syria (LA Times).

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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