Trump's Travel Ban Is an Attack on Religious Liberty

President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the U.S. entry of refugees from seven majority-Muslim countries -- while prioritizing refugees who are religious minorities, namely Christians -- is a shameful display of discrimination against people who are by legal definition innocent and in danger of their lives. It also violates the constitutional value of equal religious liberty.

Whether the constitutional violation could be used by a court to strike down the order is a more difficult question. Classically, the courts haven’t interpreted the Constitution to protect the rights of noncitizens living outside the U.S. To get into court to challenge the order, its opponents will need to argue that it violates the rights of people physically in the U.S. That will take some ingenuity, but it’s a hurdle that could be overcome. The trick will be to claim that visa holders from the seven countries who are lawfully in the U.S. -- for example, people on student visas -- can sue because the order blocks them from leaving and returning as they would otherwise be able to do.