Trump's immigration order faces mounting legal questions
WASHINGTON (AP) — The legal fight over President Donald Trump's ban on refugees is likely to turn on questions of a president's authority to control America's borders and on whether the new immigration policy unconstitutionally discriminates against Muslims.
Civil liberties advocates have challenged the order, which temporarily suspends immigration from seven countries and the United States' broader refugee program.
Federal judges in New York and several other states issued orders that temporarily block the government from deporting people with valid visas who arrived after Trump's travel ban took effect.
"The immigration statute gives the president very broad discretion to block people from entering the country," including for national security reasons.
Adam Cox, a law professor at New York University, said it's historically been challenging to prove that a policy was enacted with the purpose of disadvantaging a particular religion or race, often requiring "smoking gun evidence of the state of mind of the people" behind it.