Source: Associated Press

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The first federal appeals court to hear a challenge to President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban appeared unconvinced that it should ignore the Republican’s repeated promises on the campaign trail to bar Muslims from entering the country.

An attorney for the president urged the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday to focus on the text of the religiously neutral executive order rather than use campaign statements to infer that the policy was driven by anti-Muslim sentiment.

A challenge to President Donald Trump’s travel ban appears to hinge on whether a federal appeals court agrees that his past anti-Muslim statements can be used against him. Activists and civil rights attorneys argued that the ban is unconstitutional. (May 8)

But that idea was challenged by some members of the 13-judge panel, which is examining a ruling that blocks the administration from temporarily barring new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

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