SEATTLE (AP) - The Latest on the appeal of President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban (all times local):
1:05 p.m.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer expressed confidence that President Trump’s travel ban order will be upheld by an appeals court.
Spicer said Monday the executive order is fully lawful.
He did not address why Trump hasn’t disavowed his calls during the campaign for a ban on Muslims entering the country.
The comments came after a three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle heard arguments Monday in a lawsuit filed by Hawaii over the ban.
The judges are being asked to overturn an order blocking Trump’s directive.
___
10:52 a.m.
Arguments have wrapped up in a federal appeals court in Seattle over President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
The three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had tough questions for each side.
They asked an administration lawyer about what one judge called Trump’s “profound” campaign statements calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
They asked a lawyer for the state of Hawaii challenging the ban about whether the national security rationale spelled out in the president’s executive order neutralized any claim that the travel ban was motivated by discrimination.
The judges gave no indication of when they might rule.
___
10:26 a.m.
A federal appeals court judge is questioning a lawyer for Hawaii about past cases in which he argued that the president has broad authority over immigration matters.
Judge Michael Hawkins pointed to arguments that former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal made in previous cases.
Katyal said he stands by those arguments, but that doesn’t mean the president’s authority is unbounded.
The judges in Seattle are hearing arguments over Hawaii’s lawsuit challenging the travel ban, which would suspend the nation’s refugee program and temporarily bar new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
___
10:12 a.m.
An attorney for the state of Hawaii says President Donald Trump has never repudiated his campaigns statements calling for a ban on Muslims from entering the U.S.
During arguments in Seattle, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Paez questioned attorney Neal Katyal about Trump’s statements, calling them “profound.”
But the judge wondered whether Trump is forever forbidden from adopting an executive order along the lines of his travel ban.
Katyal said no, and suggested the president could work with Congress on legitimate measures.
___
10:06 a.m.
A Trump administration lawyer says the president’s travel ban is nothing like the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II.
Judge Richard Paez questioned Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall on whether the case wasn’t like one - now largely reviled - in which the Supreme Court upheld the exclusion of Japanese Americans.
Wall responded that Trump’s order is nothing like that, and if it were, he wouldn’t be defending it before the court.
The judges in Seattle are hearing arguments over Hawaii’s lawsuit challenging the travel ban, which would suspend the nation’s refugee program and temporarily bar new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
___
10:01 a.m.
A lawyer for President Donald Trump says he has clarified campaign rhetoric in which he called for a ban on Muslims.
Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall told a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle that, in enacting his revised travel ban targeting mostly Muslim nations, that “over time, the president clarified that what he was talking about was Islamic terrorist groups and the countries that sponsor or shelter them.”
The judges in Seattle are hearing arguments over Hawaii’s lawsuit challenging the travel ban, which would suspend the nation’s refugee program and temporarily bar new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
___
9:49 a.m.
A federal appeals court is peppering a lawyer for President Donald Trump about whether his travel ban discriminates against Muslims.
Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall says the executive order halting travel from six majority Muslim nations doesn’t say anything about religion, and neither the state of Hawaii nor an imam from that state who wants his mother-in-law to visit has standing to sue.
Judge Richard Paez asked Wall how Trump’s order can be squared with a federal law banning discrimination based on nationality in immigration.
Arguments are underway in Seattle over whether to reinstate the travel ban.
The hearings are being broadcast live on C-SPAN and other cable news stations.
___
9:38 a.m.
Arguments are underway in Seattle over whether to reinstate President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall is telling a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that the president has broad authority over immigration.
Judge Ronald Gould says each side has been allotted 30 minutes but will be granted more if necessary, given the significance of the case.
___
8:45 a.m.
Advocates for refugees and immigrants are rallying outside a federal courthouse in Seattle where judges are scheduled to hear arguments over Hawaii’s lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban
Dozens of activists gathered Monday morning, some carrying “No Ban, No Wall” signs.
The protesters were on hand about an hour before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case. The judges will decide whether to uphold a Hawaii judge’s decision in March that blocked the ban.
Trump’s new travel ban would suspend the nation’s refugee program and temporarily bar new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
___
8:20 a.m.
A courtroom at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle is starting to fill up in advance of arguments over President Donald Trump’s travel ban while protests were expected outside the building.
Three judges appointed by former President Bill Clinton - Michael Hawkins, Ronald Gould and Richard Paez - are due to hear arguments over whether to uphold a Hawaii judge’s decision to block the ban in March.
Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall will argue for the administration, while Neal Katyal, a former acting attorney general, will represent the state of Hawaii, which sued to block the ban.
___
1:09 a.m.
For the second time in a week, government lawyers will try to persuade a federal appeals court to reinstate President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban - and once again, they can expect plenty of questions about whether the ban was designed to discriminate against Muslims.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled arguments Monday in Seattle over Hawaii’s lawsuit challenging the travel ban, which would suspend the nation’s refugee program and temporarily bar new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Last week, judges on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over whether to affirm a Maryland judge’s decision putting the ban on ice. They peppered Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall with questions about whether they could consider Trump’s campaign statements calling for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.