Pennsylvania Joins States Vowing To Challenge Trump's Travel Ban

Pennsylvania has joined 16 other states that are questioning the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's executive order calling for a travel ban on refugees and citizens of seven countries, Attorney General Josh Shapiro has announced.

The multi-state effort was led in part by Shapiro, according to a statement on the Attorney General's website. The 17 states issued a joint statement condemning the travel ban as “un-American."

“As the chief legal officers for over 131 million Americans and foreign residents of our states, we condemn President Trump's unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful Executive Order and will work together to ensure the federal government obeys the Constitution, respects our history as a nation of immigrants, and does not unlawfully target anyone because of their national origin or faith," the joint statement said.

On Saturday, Gov. Tom Wolf met with an Allentown family whose loved ones were detained at Philadelphia International Airport Saturday. The couple was traveling to their new home in Allentown but were detained and sent back to the Middle East following Trump’s executive order.

"I don’t think the president thought this through," Wolf said during a weekend press conference.

Dr. and Mrs. Assali have been living in Allentown for decades. One of Mrs. Assali’s brothers is a 25-year veteran of the United State Army and fought in Desert Storm, the governor said. It was Dr. Assali’s brother and sister-in-law, who had been working for an immigration visa for the past 13 years, who were detained at Philadelphia International Airport.

A federal judge on Saturday night stopped the deportations of immigrant travelers detained at U.S. airports, partially halting enforcement of the executive order. The ruling came in response to a challenge filed on behalf of two Iraqi men detained Friday night at JFK International Airport and impacted up to 200 others held across the country.

"I think others can speak to the legal issues far better than I, but as a Pennsylvanian and an American, this is not who we are. Pennsylvania is a place of welcome. The United States is set up to be a place where people can escape oppression. This is not a place people come to experience oppression and that’s what the Assali’s family members experienced. I for one, as an American and as a Pennsylvanian, am outraged," Wolf said.

The governor said it's a "dark day" in America.

"I am speaking as a Pennsylvanian, as an American – this family has done great things in Allentown for Pennsylvania and I think it’s a dark day for all of us that the Assali’s family was treated this way. I will do everything I can to help bring their loved ones to Pennsylvania," he said.

Main Image via Nydia Velazquez, protests in New York City in response to the travel ban