WA Attorney General Sues Donald Trump To Stop Refugee Ban

SEATTLE, WA - Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and other members of his administration over the executive order signed Friday that bans travel to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries, alleging that the order violates the U.S. Constitution and a number of federal laws.

In addition to the lawsuit, Ferguson filed a temporary restraining order seeking to have the order suspended while the lawsuit proceeds. Trump's order places a three-month ban on non-citizens entering or reentering the U.S. from seven countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen; it also bans Syrian refugees indefinitely, and refugees from all other countries are banned for at least 120 days.

Ferguson is the first attorney general in the U.S. to file suit against the Trump administration over the executive order, although a group of at least 15 other attorneys general released a statement on Sunday in opposition to the order on the grounds that it's "unconstitutional."

The suit was filed Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Seattle. In the suit, Ferguson details the groups in Washington affected by Trump's order: employees and and customers of companies like Expedia and Amazon; over 200 Washington State and University of Washington students; and individual citizens, like an Iraqi software engineer from Seattle who had to rush back from a family matter in Canada before the order went into effect on Friday.

The suit charges that Trump's executive order violates the First and Fifth amendments of the Constitution, as well as federal laws like the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Ferguson's first allegation in the suit claims that the executive order violates the Fifth Amendment's due process clause. He also says that Trump gave numerous speeches and media interviews where he made his intention to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. clear.

"Sections 3 and 5 of the Executive Order, together with statements made by [Trump and other defendants] concerning their intent and application, target individuals for discriminatory treatment based on their country of origin and/or religion, without lawful justification. The Executive Order was motivated by animus and a desire to harm a particular group," the suit reads.

Read the temporary restraining order here

Read the full lawsuit here

State Republicans pushed back on Ferguson's suit during a Monday afternoon press conference.

Washington GOP Chair Susan Hutchinson accused Ferguson of using the suit to score points for reelection. She claimed that Ferguson was trying to appeal to supporters of Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant. However, Ferguson won reelection in 2016; his term is not up until 2021.

"I'm not a lawyer, but I have talked to lawyers today and they have said this is a very thin argument, legally," Hutchinson said of Ferguson's suit. "I think it's an attention-getting opportunity for him."

Ferguson said that he hoped the court would hear the suit immediately.

"In our view, the president is not adhering to the Constitution," Ferguson said during a press conference Monday morning.

Speaking alongside Ferguson, Gov. Jay Inslee listed three reasons why the state filed the suit: that the executive order is an attack on all religious faiths; it damages the economy by inhibiting employees from moving freely; an that the order jeopardizes the safety of Washington National Guard troops serving in Iraq.

"[The executive order] is not just an insult on the rights of a few people, it is an insult and a danger to all of the people of the state of Washington of all faiths," he said.

Image via Attorney General Bob Ferguson