FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 13, 2017
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Albuquerque, NM – Attorney General Hector Balderas filed a brief today in support of Hawaii’s challenge to President Trump’s revised executive order restricting travel and refugee resettlement. The amicus brief, filed by 13 states and the District of Columbia, requests that the federal court hearing Hawaii’s lawsuit enter a nationwide injunction preventing the implementation and enforcement of the executive order that will go into effect on Thursday. The brief explains that despite the Trump Administration’s revision of its original executive order to remove obviously unconstitutional provisions, the new executive order remains an unconstitutional attempt to restrict travel from six predominately-Muslim countries and to suspend completely the nation’s refugee resettlement program.
“Discriminating against people for their religion is un-American and unconstitutional, and as such, I will fight President Trump’s new travel ban in court alongside other states,” said Attorney General Balderas. “Additionally, New Mexico cannot afford to have our hospitals, research facilities and universities negatively impacted by this illegal order. The states’ amicus brief supports the right of states to sue to challenge the executive order. It describes the harm that states are suffering and will continue to suffer as a result of President Trump’s immigration actions, including preventing states from hiring doctors and professors and economic losses from reduced travel and tourism. The states also explain that the executive order’s discrimination on the basis of religion and national origin thwarts the states’ efforts to ensure equal protection under the law.
Please see attached for a copy of the brief.
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