Washington, New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Oregon join Hawaii in mounting legal challenge against Travel Ban 2.0.
President Trump may have revised his executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim countries from entering the United States by plugging some of the loop holes, but a number of states across the country think Travel Ban 2.0 also has no locus standi, just like the previous version.
Washington, New York, Minnesota, and Oregon are set to join Hawaii in mounting a court challenge against President Trumps’ revised travel ban.
The new order suspends issuance of visas to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days—removing Iraq form the original list. It also bans entry of refugees from all over the world for 120 days. The previous order had banned refugees from only one country, Syria.
Trump signs revised executive order on travel ban, exempting Iraqis (March 6, 2017)
The Aloha State, on Wednesday, was the first state to oppose Trump’ revised executive order on travel ban, which was issued on Monday.
On Thursday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said, in documents to be filed in federal court later in the day, that the injunction he obtained blocking some sections of the previous executive order applies to the new one as well.
Ferguson, who challenged the initial order on January 30, won an injunction against it from U.S. District Court Judge James Robart on February 3. Robart stopped the implementation of the order nationwide. Though the administration appealed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the order, it refused handing a victory to Ferguson.
Another court loss for Trump on travel ban (February 10, 2017)
On Thursday, the Washington attorney general appeared as determined to block the second order as he was to the initial one.
“My message to President Trump is — not so fast,” said Ferguson in a press release. “After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the President’s new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original. Consequently, we are asking Judge Robart to confirm that the injunction he issued remains in full force and effect as to the reinstated provisions.”
Within hours, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that he will join Feguson and other attorneys general on Monday.
“President Trump’s latest executive order is a Muslim Ban by another name, imposing policies and protocols that once again violate the Equal Protection Clause and Establishment Clause of the United State Constitution,” he said.
Minnesota, Massachusetts and Oregon also joined the legal challenge to block the new order.