FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 2017
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Balderas and fellow attorneys general urge Fourth Circuit to uphold district court ruling that struck down the second version of President Trump’s Muslim ban
Santa Fe, NM – Following their amicus brief opposing the Trump Administration’s request for a stay that would allow the second iteration of its Muslim ban to take effect, Attorney General Balderas has again joined a coalition of seventeen states filing a new amicus brief urging the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the district court ruling that struck down the ban as unconstitutional. The states’ brief explains the reasons that the district court’s decision should not be overturned on appeal, including the overwhelming and unrebutted evidenced of antiMuslim animus and the significant harms that the ban would cause the states, their residents, and their institutions.
“I will continue to fight against President Trump’s illegal, un-American travel ban and to protect New Mexico’s research institutions, universities and hospitals,” Attorney General Balderas said. “This is America, no one should be discriminated against for their religion– religious freedom is one of the main reasons our great nation was founded.”
The states share with the court the considerable harms that would occur if the ban is allowed to go into effect, including harm to state colleges, universities, and medical institutions, reduced tax revenues and damage to state economies, harm to the medical care of residents, and harm to each state’s antidiscrimination laws and protections for religious freedom found in the Constitution of each of the filing states.
This amicus brief in support of affirmance is joined by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
Previously, Attorney General Balderas was part of a 17 state coalition urging the Fourth Circuit to reject the Trump Administration’s request to stay the district court injunction currently preventing the ban from going into effect. In urging the Court to continue the current injunction against the ban, the states made it clear that the Trump Administration is unlikely to win their appeal; the public interest strongly favors a continued injunction against the stay; the Trump Administration has not demonstrated the required “irreparable harm” that would entitle it to a stay; and States and their residents will face significant harm if the ban goes into effect.
Please see attached for the brief.
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