The “Free State” of Maryland on Friday became the fifth state to join a legal challenge seeking to block the Trump administration’s revised “Muslim ban” in court. More than two dozen lawsuits were issued against the original Jan. 27 travel ban.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said his office would formally join a suit filed by Oregon, Washington and Minnesota on Monday, according to Reuters. Hawaii has a separate case pending against the new ban.
“The administration persists in an effort to implement a policy that is inhumane and unconstitutional, but also makes us less safe, not more safe,” Frosh said in a statement.
“Trump’s second executive order is still a Muslim ban,” Frosh added.
As reported earlier by The Root, the new executive order, which was announced Monday, bars new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries (Iraq was dropped) and temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program. The order does not apply to travelers who already have visas, unlike the initial order, and the new order removed an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.
The new travel order is set to take effect Thursday.
In early February, U.S. District Judge James Robart issued an order blocking the first version of the ban. Robart’s ruling was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, leading the Trump administration to issue the new order Monday.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday that his office will file a motion asking Robart to reaffirm that the order applies to the new version of the travel ban.
Frosh said that the ban would make Maryland less competitive by deterring visits by academics, scientists and engineers from other countries and would hurt Maryland’s universities and economy.
We’re at one-tenth of American states and counting. How many more will join?
Read more at Reuters.