Maryland joins states suing over Trump’s travel ban

Maryland on Friday became the fifth state to join a legal challenge seeking to block the Trump administration’s revised travel ban in court.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said his office on Monday would formally join a suit filed by four other states, Reuters reported. 

“The administration persists in an effort to implement a policy that is inhumane and unconstitutional, but also makes us less safe, not more safe,” Frosh said in a statement.

The states are pushing for a temporary restraining order similar to the one that halted President Trump’s first order.

Maryland joins New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D), Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D), Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) and Washington state in challenging the new ban.

{mosads}The new travel order, which is set to take effect on Wednesday, replaced a more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports.

The first order, which temporarily halted the entry of refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, was hit by more than two-dozen lawsuits.

The revised order issued on Monday is aimed at surviving a court challenge.

Among the changes, the new order drops Iraq from the list, exempts valid visa holders and halts all refugee admissions for four months. The previous order indefinitely suspended Syrian refugees and allowed preference for some religious minorities.

Democratic attorneys general in four states announced Thursday that they will try to block the Trump administration’s revised executive order on travel in court.

In early February, U.S. District Judge James Robart issued an order blocking the first version of the ban, which applied to visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries and all immigrants. Robart’s ruling was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, leading the Trump administration to issue the new order on Monday.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) said Thursday his office will file a motion asking Robart to reaffirm that the order applies to the new version of the travel ban, which is scheduled to go into effect next Thursday, March 16.