Texas Attorney General Files Another 'Amicus Brief' Supporting Trump's Muslim Travel Ban

AUSTIN, TX — The Texas attorney general has filed an unsolicited amicus brief in the Supreme Court supporting Donald Trump's proposed travel ban blocking Muslims from entering the U.S. from six countries the state official labeled as "terror-prone" in a media advisory.

Also known as a friend-of-the-court brief, an amicus brief is correspondence from interested parties to a case meant to offer their expertise or insight into a matter. Trump's latest iteration of a proposed ban of travel from some Muslim-majority countries is currently being reviewed (it was whittled down to six countries) after the previous version was deemed as being in violation of the U.S. Constitution in amounting to a religious ban.

"Leading a coalition of 16 states, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton yesterday filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court supporting President Trump’s executive order temporarily pausing the entry of foreign nationals from six terror-prone counties [sic]," Paxton wrote in his news advisory on Wednesday alerting to his filing.

Paxton said he was joined by 14 of his counterparts in other states plus the governor of Mississippi to "...demonstrate that the president’s order is a lawful exercise of statutorily authorized executive power over foreign affairs and national security."

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals last month affirmed a ruling that blocked the order. But Paxton continues to be one of the travel ban's most ardent supporters in Texas.

“The executive order is a tailored response to a very real threat to our national security,” he said in his prepared statement. “A temporary pause on entry from countries with heightened security concerns is necessary to shore up our nation’s vetting procedures. The president is fulfilling his solemn duty to protect Texans and all Americans.”

Paxton said Texas was joined in the amicus brief by Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.

This isn't the first time Paxton had sent the SCOTUS such a brief, having last filed similar correspondence in April in support of the revised ban Trump composed as an executive order. Since that correspondence, Ohio came on board to join the coalition supporting the measure. Before that, he filed an amicus brief on behalf of the state with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in February in support of the Muslim ban, making Texas the first state in the country offering full-throated approval of the measure.

To view Paxton's latest amicus brief, click here.

>>> Official photo of Ken Paxton via State of Texas