9th Circuit puts Trump’s travel ban on fast-track review

A San Francisco-based federal appeals court will hear arguments on President Trump’s latest travel and refugee resettlement restrictions in May.

A three-judge motions panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Trump administration’s unopposed request for expedited review Monday and set a schedule for written arguments.

A brief order from the court said a hearing would be held some time in May. The court will be examining a Hawaii judge’s ruling that blocked the executive order on the grounds that by targeting countries that are predominantly Muslim it discriminated on the basis of religion.

The order — which would stop all refugee resettlement for 120 days and block citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the U.S. for 90 days — is a revised version of Trump’s original travel ban.

In February, the 9th Circuit upheld a nationwide injunction on the original order, ruling that it violated due process rights because it was enacted without notice and without giving people the right to challenge it.

The revised order removed restrictions on holders of visas and green cards but still targeted predominantly Muslim nations.

Another ruling blocking part of the revised ban is pending in the Virginia-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. A hearing on that appeal is also set for May.