The US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan [official website] on Thursday ordered [text, PDF] the Trump administration to disclose the draft of the so-called “Muslim ban” executive ored. Arab American Civil Rights League v. Trump, is a case before the court arguing that the immigration ban initially proposed by the administration had discriminatory intent against Muslims. The previous draft in question was alleged to have been made by an adviser of Trump who said the administration asked him to find a way to make a muslim ban legal. The court held the draft had enough significance to warrant limited discovery as the parties involved had standing to proceed with the case.

Moreover, in light of the other findings – especially the finding that the motion to dismiss will not dispose of the case entirely – Defendants’ concern that the discovery sought will implicate several complex privilege issues, including a matter of first impression pertaining to information related to a president elect’s activities, weighs in favor of allowing Plaintiffs to initiate limited discovery immediately. Because these issues will inevitably be raised, there is no point in delaying discovery and delaying the progress of this case, just to avoid having to decide these issues now

The deadline for disclosure of the draft is the May 19.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] heard oral arguments [JURIST report] on Monday regarding President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday signed [JURIST report] into law a bill banning so-called “sanctuary cities” in the state. The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal [JURIST report] by a group of Central American asylum-seekers in April who hoped the court would overturn a lower court’s ruling preventing them from having their removal orders reviewed by a federal judge. The US Department of Justice filed a notice [JURIST report] in March saying that it will appeal a Hawaii federal judge’s order against President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.