17 Attorneys General File Amicus Brief Opposing The Ban, Citing Harm To States’ Residents, Institutions, And Economies

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, leading a coalition of 17 Attorneys General, filed a new amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing President Trump’s third travel ban.

The brief was filed in Trump v. Hawaii (No. 17-965), ahead of arguments scheduled for April 25^th. In this third challenge, the district court entered a nationwide preliminary injunction that prohibits enforcement of President Trump’s indefinite ban on the entry into the U.S. of nationals from six overwhelmingly Muslim countries. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the injunction, which protects foreign nationals with a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.

“Since Day One, our coalition of attorneys general has been on the front lines of the fight against this unconstitutional, unlawful, and un-American ban,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “President Trump’s discriminatory ban both hurts the families caught up in the chaos of his draconian policies, and undermines our states’ residents, institutions, businesses, and economies. We’ll continue to act to protect our residents and our states.”

Click here to read the brief, which was led by Attorney General Schneiderman and signed by New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

“All of amici States benefit from immigra­tion, tourism, and international travel by students, aca­demics, skilled professionals, and business-people. The disputed provisions of the Proclamation—like the previous bans—significantly disrupt the ability of our public universities to recruit and retain students and faculty, impairing academic staffing and research, and causing the loss of tuition and tax revenues, among other costs. The Proclamation also disrupts the provision of medical care at our hospitals and harms our science, technology, finance, and tourism indus­tries by inhibiting the free exchange of information, ideas, and talent between the designated countries and our States, causing long-term economic and reputational damage. In addition, the ban has made it more difficult for us to effectuate our own consti­tutional and statutory policies of religious tolerance and nondiscrimination,” the amicus brief explains.

The brief, like previous ones filed by the same coalition, details the numerous grave and irreparable harms the States have continued to face as a result of the Trump Administration’s travel bans, and which could very well now be permanent due to the indefinite nature of this third ban. The injunction thus provides critical protection against those injuries.

The amicus brief was handled for New York by Solicitor General Barbara D. Underwood, Deputy Solicitor General Anisha S. Dasgupta, and Assistant Solicitor General Zainab A. Chaudhry.