A federal court issued a ruling May 2 allowing lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban to continue.
One of the lawsuits, IAAB v. Trump, was brought by Americans United, Muslim Advocates and Covington & Burling, LLP. Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Hawaii last year allowed the policy to be implemented, it did not settle the question of whether the Ban violates the Constitution.
Judge Theodore D. Chuang of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that AU’s lawsuit may advance, giving attorneys the ability to develop the record and obtain more information to support the charge that the Muslim Ban violates the Constitution, including its church-state separation provisions.
“We applaud today’s ruling, which allows us to continue the fight against President Trump’s Muslim Ban – a cruel and divisive policy that is harming our clients and countless other Muslims in America by separating families and fueling anti-Muslim violence,” said Americans United Associate Legal Director Alex J. Luchenitser. “The Muslim Ban violates our country’s fundamental promise of religious freedom for all, and we will do everything in our power to protect that freedom by ending the Ban.”