Appeal: 17-1351 Doc: 84 Filed: 04/04/2017 Pg: 1 of 3 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT LEWIS F. POWELL, JR. UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE ANNEX 1100 EAST MAIN STREET, SUITE 501 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23219-3517 WWW.CA4.USCOURTS.GOV PATRICIA S. CONNOR CLERK TELEPHONE (804) 916-2700 April 4, 2017 Omar C. Jadwat Lee P. Gelernt Spencer Elijah Wittmann Amdur Cecillia D. Wang AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION 18th Floor 125 Broad Street New York, NY 10004-2400 Justin Bryan Cox NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER 1989 College Avenue, NE Atlanta, GA 30317 Karen C. Tumlin Nicholas David Espiritu Melissa S. Keaney Esther Hsiao-In Sung NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER 3435 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90010 Daniel Mach Heather Lynn Weaver AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION 915 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 Cody H. Wofsy AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 Appeal: 17-1351 Doc: 84 Filed: 04/04/2017 Pg: 2 of 3 2 Jeffrey Bryan Wall, Acting Solicitor General Sharon Swingle H. Thomas Byron, III Lowell Vernon Sturgill, Jr. Anne Murphy U. S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Re: No. 17-1351, International Refugee Assistance Project v. Donald J. Trump Dear Counsel: Please be advised that beginning on or about March 27, 2017, emails containing the following or similar messages have been sent to the email addresses of Fourth Circuit judges: Honorable Judge, I respectfully urge you to reverse the district court’s order in International Refugee Assistance Project v. Donald J. Trump case No. 17-1351. US District Judge Theodore Chuang issued an order that halted enforcement of the second travel ban on the erroneous basis that it likely violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it discriminates against Muslims. Judge Chuang’s order: • Acknowledged but failed to recognize the president’s statutory authority to execute the ban pursuant to Sections 1182(f) and 1185(a) of Title 8. • Failed to consider the travel ban addressed only six of fortynine (12%) Muslim majority countries. Pew Research reported on January 31, 2017 there are forty-nine Muslim majority countries. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/31/worlds-muslimpopulation-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/ • Ignored the fact that the travel ban applied equally to all nationalities and religions from the six designated countries. • Failed to recognize that for the past 30 years, every President has invoked that power to protect the Nation by suspending entry of categories of aliens. • Is unprecedented in that it restrains an executive order by the Appeal: 17-1351 Doc: 84 Filed: 04/04/2017 Pg: 3 of 3 3 President of the United States because of statements that he made as a private citizen before he swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. • Strongly appears to place a priority on politics instead of justice. Judge Chuang’s order perpetuates a dangerous myth that President Trump’s travel ban is a “Muslim Ban.” What other federal laws will be unenforceable against Muslims if the U.S. Courts erroneously rule that President Trump and his administration are biased against Muslims? Please make our national security a priority over politics and our public safety a priority over political correctness. Please reverse the district court’s order in International Refugee Assistance Project v. Donald J. Trump case No. 17-1351. The Court has directed me to notify you of these ex parte emails in accordance with Canon 3(A)(4) of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which provides: “If a judge receives an unauthorized ex parte communication bearing on the substance of a matter, the judge should promptly notify the parties of the subject matter of the communication and allow the parties an opportunity to respond, if requested.” Yours truly, s/Patricia S. Connor