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MD AG Frosh Joins Amicus Brief in Support of Hawaii’s Lawsuit Against Revised Immigration Ban

March 13th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh joined 13 other attorneys general today filing an amicus brief in the District Court for Hawaii in support of the State of Hawaii’s request for a temporary restraining order enjoining the enforcement of the revised Executive Order issued on March 6, 2017. The attorneys general argue the revised travel ban retains unconstitutional components of the original order, including a broad ban on entry to the country by nationals of several predominantly Muslim countries and a complete suspension of the refugee program.

“President Trump’s second executive order is still a Muslim ban,” said Attorney General Frosh.  “It is a policy that is unconstitutional and un-American but also makes us less safe, not more safe.  It makes us less competitive and will harm Maryland’s universities and our economy.”

In the brief filed today, Attorney General Frosh and the states argue the Executive Order has caused serious harm to individuals who live, work, and study in their states, as well as their families, communities, and the institutions and businesses that employ and educate them.

In part, the brief states:

“Although the revised Order is narrower in some respects than the initial Order, it retains the two essential pillars of that Order: a sweeping ban on entry to the United States by nationals of several predominantly Muslim countries and a complete suspension of the refugee program. If allowed to go into effect, the revised Order will immediately harm the amici States’ proprietary, quasi-sovereign, and sovereign interests. It will inhibit the free exchange of information, ideas, and talent between the six designated countries and the States, including at the States’ many educational institutions; harm the States’ life sciences, technology, health care, finance, and tourism industries, as well as innumerable other small and large businesses throughout the States; inflict economic damage on the States themselves through both increased costs and immediately diminished tax revenues; and hinder the States from effectuating the policies of religious tolerance and nondiscrimination enshrined in our laws and state constitutions.”

The amicus brief highlights that the initial Executive Order has already caused concrete irreparable harms to the states’ residents, institutions and businesses, and the revised version will continue to harm the states. Specifically, the states argue that the order harmed state colleges and universities, creating staffing gaps, precluding students’ attendance, and imposing additional costs and administrative burdens; has disrupted staffing and research at state medical institutions; and has immediately reduced tax revenues and is broadly harming the states’ economies.

Attorneys general have been at the forefront of the opposition to the executive action on immigration. Attorney General Frosh today officially joined Washington State’s lawsuit against President Trump’s second executive order. Previously, Attorney General Frosh joined amicus briefs in support of legal challenges to the first executive order brought by Washington, Virginia and New York.  Attorney General Frosh also supports the ACLU in its pending challenge in Maryland to the Executive Order. 

In addition to Maryland, states filing today’s amicus brief include attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. 

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