California Joins Lawsuit Against Trump’s Revised Travel Ban

Thousands of protesters turned out at Los Angeles International Airport in January in response to President Trump’s initial travel ban. (Flickr / CC 2.0)

California joined a lawsuit Monday challenging President Trump’s revised travel ban, becoming a plaintiff alongside six other states opposing the controversial order.

Xavier Becerra, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement:

Last month, our courts put a lid on the unconstitutional and un-American Trump Muslim travel ban because Americans stood up and demanded it. The victory for lawful permanent residents and current visa holders was welcome news for everyone, especially the victims’ families. But the fight for fair and lawful treatment of all who would seek permission to enter our country is not over.

The Trump Administration may have changed the text of the now-discredited Muslim travel ban, but they didn’t change its unconstitutional intent and effect. It is still an attack on people –women and children, professors and business colleagues, seniors and civic leaders – based on their religion and national origin.

There are some things that transcend a presidency. In America, we will always defend our families, our values, and our Constitution. I am proud to join with my fellow attorneys general in protecting our people from this latest unfounded and unconstitutional overreach.

California joins Washington, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts and Minnesota in challenging the new version of the travel ban, which the Trump administration revised in an attempt to bolster its chances of holding up in court. This modified ban is set to go into effect Thursday.

The seven-state lawsuit asks Seattle’s U.S. District Court Judge James Robart — who blocked the first iteration of Trump’s travel ban in February — to “extend his ruling to cover parts of the president’s revised directive,” according to Politico.

“The states asked Robart to schedule a hearing for Tuesday on their emergency motion,” Politico continues. “However, he gave the Justice Department until Tuesday evening to respond, leaving open the question of when and whether a hearing will be held.”

The revised travel ban has already faced legal consequences: Last Friday, according to The Hill, a U.S. District Court judge put a specific restraining order on the ban, preventing it from affecting a Syrian family in Wisconsin.

Politico notes that other lawsuits are underway in Hawaii and Maryland. And, in addition to joining the Seattle lawsuit, Becerra joined other attorneys general in signing an amicus brief for Hawaii’s lawsuit.

The brief, according to a press release, “explains how the unconstitutional revised travel ban injures the states and their residents, including by harming our colleges and universities, medical institutions, and economies.”

READ: Hawaii Is First to File Lawsuit Against Trump’s Revised Travel Ban

“California was joined in filing the amicus brief by Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia,” the release adds.

A federal judge is scheduled to hear the Hawaii lawsuit Wednesday, but it’s unlikely the Seattle lawsuit will be heard before the ban goes into effect Thursday.

—Posted by Emma Niles