A Richmond, Virginia-based federal court will hold a crucial hearing to scrutinize a Maryland judge's ruling that dealt Trump a humiliating blow by freezing his second attempt to close United States borders to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit will meet May 15 in Seattle to hear Trump's appeal of the decision blocking the travel ban by a federal judge in Hawaii.
Legal Analyst Todd Stone thinks it is one reason both sides of the case asked the full court to weigh in. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in that case next week.
In his March ruling, Maryland US District Court Judge Theodore Chuang wrote the "history of public statements continues to provide a convincing case that the goal of the Second Executive Order remains the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban".
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, one of the country's most prominent conservative jurists, recused himself from the case because he is related to acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, a U.S. Department of Justice official supervising government lawyers arguing the case.
Federal appeals courts on opposite coasts are preparing to take up challenges to an executive order that the administration says is urgently needed for national security and opponents say discriminates against Muslims.
The judge wrote that government officials defending the order "do not directly contest that this record of public statements reveals a religious motivation for the travel ban". The president issued a second, narrower order in early March, which is more likely to survive legal scrutiny.
The clerk's office can not confirm if any judge or judges have recused themselves and said Thursday that the composition of the en banc panel will be revealed Monday.
Given the intense public interest surrounding Monday's proceedings, the court will broadcast the hearing through an audio feed available on its website.
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Fourteen of the 4th Circuit's judges, nine of whom were appointed by Democratic presidents, will participate in Monday's arguments.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law school professor, said while the 4th Circuit has become moderate, it still tends to rule in favor of the government when it's convinced there's a compelling case of national security.
Even if the government prevails in the 4th Circuit, enforcement of the order will still be enjoined by U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson's order, which found the directive could violate the First Amendment's establishment clause.
"I think a lot depends on how the judges view the case", Tobias told the Associated Press. Although it does not explicitly mention Muslims, US District Judge Theodore Chuang of Maryland accepted arguments that Trump's history of anti-Muslim rhetoric presented "a convincing case" that the second executive decree amounted to "the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban".
Stone said the court will look at the intent of the order and if there is evidence to prove that intent. The Trump administration's new policy temporarily suspends the USA refugee program and blocks new visas for citizens of six majority-Muslim countries. "Or is this a religious freedom case?"
But the American Civil Liberties Union, representing a group of refugee aid organizations and Muslim residents whose overseas relatives are seeking visas, says Trump never disavowed his plan to target Muslim immigration.
While the Trump administration wants the court to act quickly, it will likely be weeks before the judges issue their written decision.
The modified version removed Iraq from the ban, but ran into the same objections.
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