Politics & Government
NY Attorney General Joins ACLU Lawsuit Against Trump's 'Muslim Ban': Read It Here
The ACLU's potentially game-changing lawsuit against Donald Trump's new Muslim immigration restrictions now has another big name behind it.
BROOKLYN, NY — New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the most powerful lawyer in the state, has thrown his weight behind the American Civil Liberties Union's potentially game-changing lawsuit against President Donald Trump's days-old blockade on immigration from Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Somalia and Syria.
“As I've made clear: President Trump's executive action is unconstitutional, unlawful, and fundamentally un-American," Schneiderman said Tuesday. “That is why "my office will be filing to join the federal lawsuit against President Trump and his administration."
Hours after the lawsuit was filed in Brooklyn federal court Saturday — on behalf of two particular Iraqi refugees detained at JFK Airport — Judge Ann Donnelly ruled that the suit warranted an emergency halt to Trump's order.
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Because of that ruling, most (if not all) of the immigrants detained Saturday have since been released from Customs and Border Protection custody at airports across the nation. However, there are still widespread reports of immigrants stranded abroad — barred from boarding flights to the U.S. from their countries of origin.
Upcoming Brooklyn hearings on the ACLU's lawsuit, which calls for the court to completely strike down Trump's so-called "Muslim ban," will address these persisting crises.
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No date had been set for the first hearing as of Tuesday afternoon, according to a spokeswoman for the court.
Although the lawsuit has been most widely attributed to the ACLU, it was also filed by the Urban Justice Center, the National Immigration Law Center and the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale University. And now, New York's attorney general wants to add his name to the list.
"I'm proud to partner with these organizations to fight to permanently strike down this dangerous and discriminatory order," Schneiderman said Tuesday.
Read the full suit — and a Brooklyn judge's response — below.
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