First lawsuit over latest travel ban filed by Iranian-American group

An Iranian-American advocacy group has filed the first federal lawsuit over President Trump’s latest travel ban.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the District of Maryland on Monday by the Iranian Alliance Across Borders (IAAB), along with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Muslim Advocates. The groups also partnered with the National Iranian-American Council.

“Over the past year, our members have been subject to discrimination in their schools and subways. We have been separated from our loved ones and had to endure this administration’s continued campaign to divide our families,” said IAAB’s executive director, Mana Kharrazi.

{mosads}“Our youth are witness to a rise in hatred that puts our country in jeopardy of ushering in a dark chapter of bigotry. We have a right to exist and be protected in the U.S. without becoming pawns in an agenda that has little to do with safety and security.”

The complaint argues that Trump’s latest travel ban defies an Immigration and Nationality Act rule that bars discrimination when providing visas. It also says Trump’s new restrictions violates the establishment clause.

“Despite President Trump’s attempts to cloak this latest iteration of his Muslim ban in religiously neutral garb by invoking a national security review and including North Korea and Venezuela, the purpose and effects of the Proclamation remain unchanged: to keep Muslims from entering the United States,” the complaint reads.

The latest ban, announced by administration officials last month, alters the list of countries targeted for vetting restrictions to now include North Korea, Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said last Friday that it would challenge the latest ban.

“President Trump’s newest travel ban is still a Muslim ban at its core, and it certainly engages in discrimination based on national origin, which is unlawful,” the ACLU’s executive director, Anthony Romero, said in a statement.

This report was updated at 11:21 a.m.