This story was updated at 3:30 p.m. with details on Hawaii’s involvement in the case.
Seventeen states — in addition to Washington and Minnesota — are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit not to undo a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), which brought Trump’s travel and immigration ban to a grinding halt Friday.
The following states filed a 29-page amicus brief challenging the federal government’s request to stay the TRO:
- New York
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Mexico
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Virginia
- District of Columbia
Hawaii also filed a request to join Washington and Minnesota as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which claims Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional and violates immigration law. That request was denied, for the sake of the appeals process, but Hawaii will join the amicus brief instead.
Washington was the first state to sue the Trump Administration over the order and also requested the emergency TRO, which Judge James Robart granted in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington Friday.
Over the weekend, the Department of Justice filed a motion to stay the TRO, followed by a swift challenge from the states. The court denied the stay but the federal government is expected to counter by 3 p.m. today.
The states’ amicus brief joins a chorus of private companies, non-profits, and other organizations that have voiced their support of Washington and Minnesota’s lawsuit. More than 100 companies — including Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, Uber, and others — filed a brief overnight supporting the states’ case.
Read states’ full amicus brief below.
17 States Join Washington v. Trump by GeekWire on Scribd
