A three-judge federal panel blocked President Trump’s controversial executive order banning travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim nations. The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, was celebrated by prominent Democratic leaders across California.

Newly confirmed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined top legal officials from 15 other states in filing an amicus brief to the 9th Circuit supporting Washington state’s challenge to Trump’s executive order.

The White House is reportedly considering a new, more narrowly tailored executive order, rather than an appeal to the Supreme Court. Thirty-five percent of current U.S. immigrants from the seven targeted nations live in California, according to an analysis of Census data from the Public Policy Institute of California. Nearly half have at least an undergraduate degree.

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Matt Levin was the data and housing dude for CalMatters. His work entails distilling complex policy topics into easily digestible charts and graphs, finding and writing original stories from data, yelling...