Judge Theodore D. Chuang, the federal judge in Maryland who ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development on Tuesday, has previously intervened in several high-profile legal cases from President Trump’s first term in office.
Eight years ago, Mr. Trump started his presidency with a wide-reaching ban on travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, arguing that they posed a national security risk. The ban caused chaos at U.S. ports of entry, partly because Mr. Trump issued it without warning. Some people learned that they had been barred from entry only after they had arrived in the United States. Widespread protests were held at airports to denounce the travel ban.
Judge Chuang — appointed to the U.S. District Court for Maryland by President Barack Obama — was one of two judges who blocked the ban for a second time after the Trump administration rescinded and resubmitted the order to remove some of its more contentious elements — an attempt to demonstrate to the courts that the ban did not intend to target Muslims specifically.
Judge Chuang was not persuaded by that argument, ruling that the likely purpose of Mr. Trump’s order was to enact “the proposed Muslim ban” that the president had campaigned on. The judge ordered that the ban not take effect, citing Mr. Trump’s public comments to conclude that the president may have intended to violate the constitutional prohibition on religious preferences.
“In this highly unique case,” Judge Chuang wrote, “the record provides strong indications that the national security purpose is not the primary purpose for the travel ban.”
Months later, Mr. Trump issued the travel ban for a third time, once again tailoring the order and language so that they would hold up under scrutiny from the courts. Judge Chuang again blocked the order, citing Mr. Trump’s repeated promises to bar Muslims from entering the country, as well as other statements he had made since taking office that were seen as hostile to Muslims.