Mayors file court brief opposing Trump’s travel ban

Democratic Mayors representing some of the largest cities in the country filed a friend of the court brief Wednesday in support of a legal challenge to President Trump’s revised ban on travelers from six majority-Muslim countries.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh filed the amicus brief in a U.S. District Court in Seattle, where six states are suing to block enforcement of Trump’s new executive order on immigration that’s set to take effect on Thursday.

“The revised travel ban is an affront to American values, weakens our national security and is unconstitutional,” Emanuel said in a statement.

{mosads}”The City of Chicago will fight to ensure that this country remains a welcoming beacon of hope to innocent refugees who seek to escape the life-threatening horrors of war, to asylum seekers and to hardworking, law-abiding immigrants who seek a better life.”

Trump signed a revised travel ban last week after a federal appeals court in San Francisco blocked enforcement of his original Jan. 27 order. The new order bars citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. — down from seven after Iraq was removed from the revised order. Visa and green card holders will be exempt from the ban.

Despite the revisions, the executive order has still faced accusations that it is a discriminatory ban on Muslims and at odds with core U.S. values. Trump has argued that the order is necessary to safeguard U.S. national security and claims that such a measure falls well within his legal bounds as president.