Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday called for a border shutdown to prevent Muslims from entering the United States. BBC reported that Trump, in a campaign statement, said a ban on Muslims should remain till US representatives “can figure out” Muslim attitudes in the country. Trump on Monday said that figures of the Center of Security Policy, a conservative think-tank, showed that a large number of Muslims felt hatred towards the US and Americans. The White House immediately criticised Trump’s remarks, but Trump has remained a frontrunner in the Republican campaign despite a series of divisive and extremely contentious statements.

Trump’s proposal would violate several international agreements that the US has signed with other countries, as well as international laws. Legal experts said the proposal is unconstitutional, the Washington Post reported. They cited the US Constitution’s equal protection clause and the First Amendment’s doctrine of freedom of religion in shutting down the proposal. Last week a Muslim couple, who have since been praised by Islamic State, shot at a health centre in San Bernadino, killing 14 people.