Washington state says Trump's new travel ban is just as unconstitutional as the last one
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson argued in an announcement Thursday that a federal judge's February ruling, which suspended President Trump's initial travel ban on several majority-Muslim nations, ought to cover Trump's new ban as well. New York and Oregon will join the suit; other states might, too, Politico reports.
"The bottom line is that the court issued, and we obtained, a temporary restraining order on the original executive order," Ferguson told NPR. "Yes, the revised one is more narrow — that's a success. But the core constitutional problems remain the same … The intent behind the executive order targeting those Muslim countries still remains, and that is unconstitutional."
Trump's new ban excludes Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face severe restrictions for travel to the U.S. The revised list still includes Syria, Libya, Somalia, Iran, Yemen, and Sudan. Additionally, legal residents of those nations who already have visas can travel to the U.S., and the Syrian refugee program is no longer suspended indefinitely.
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"We're asserting that the president cannot unilaterally declare himself free of the court's restraining order and injunction," Ferguson said at the press conference Thursday. "It's our view that that temporary restraining order that we've already obtained remains in effect."
On Tuesday, Hawaii announced it will also challenge Trump's new ban, seeking a temporary restraining order against it in a lawsuit. Trump's new ban is to go into effect on March 16.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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