Federal appeals court judges in Virginia peppered a government lawyer today with questions about President Donald Trump's latest travel ban and whether the president has the authority to ban 150 million foreign nationals, mostly Muslims, from the United States.
A full panel of 13 judges from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the third version of Trump's travel ban.
It was the second federal appeals court to hear a challenge to the ban this week, following a hearing Wednesday before the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit.
The hearing came four days after the US Supreme Court said it would allow the travel restrictions to go into full effect, at least until the two appeals courts ruled on separate lawsuits challenging the ban.
The 4th Circuit is being asked to reverse a decision by a Maryland judge whose injunction in October barred the administration from enforcing the ban against travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen who have bona fide relationships with people or organizations in the US.
North Korea and Venezuela are also included, but to a much narrower extent.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim Mooppan told the judges that the latest travel restrictions were the product of a global, multiagency review that found the countries do not share enough security-related information with the United States. He insisted the latest travel ban is not anti-Muslim, but is necessary for national security.
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