New Trump ban facing mounting legal challenges

SEATTLE - Legal challenges against US President Donald Trump's revised travel ban mounted on Thursday as Washington state said it would renew its request to block the executive order and a judge granted Oregon's request to join the case.

The events happened a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said New York state also asked to join his state's legal effort. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said the state is joining fellow states in challenging the revised travel ban.

Washington was the first state to sue over the original ban, which resulted in Judge James Robart in Seattle halting its implementation around the country. Ferguson said the state would ask Robart to rule that his temporary restraining order against the first ban applies to Trump's revised action.

"My message to President Trump is not so fast," Ferguson said. "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."

Robart on Thursday granted Oregon's request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the ban.

Trump's revised ban bars new visas for people from six countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the US refugee program.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders won't be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Ferguson said it's not the government but the court that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by the previous temporary restraining order.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

"We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given," Spicer said.

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washington's initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

AP-Xinhua

(China Daily 03/11/2017 page10)