Press Release  Attorney General Healey Leads Amicus Brief Supporting New York's Lawsuit Against President Trump's Immigration Ban

Boston — Today, Attorney General Maura Healey led a coalition of 16 Attorneys General in filing an amicus brief  in support of the lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s Executive Order on immigration in the Eastern District of New York, which the State of New York has joined. This follows amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit supporting the Washington State lawsuit against the Executive Order and in the Eastern District of Virginia in support of Virginia’s lawsuit.

In the brief filed today, the Attorneys General state: “The barred individuals include, among others, persons who have previously been granted valid U.S. visas that otherwise entitle them to work, study, and travel within the amici States. In addition to harming such individuals, the Executive Order also inhibits the free exchange of information, ideas, and talent between the seven designated countries and the amici States.”

State Attorneys General have been at the forefront of the opposition to President Trump’s order. This amicus brief, co-authored by Massachusetts and Illinois, is joined by Attorneys General from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, and follows other legal action by state Attorneys General to oppose President Trump’s Executive Order, including the lawsuit filed by AG Healey in Massachusetts.

“As state attorneys general, our job is to enforce the laws and to stand up for our states and our residents,” said AG Healey. The Trump administration’s Executive Order is unconstitutional, counterproductive, and harmful to the interests of our states. I join with my colleagues nationwide in a commitment to hold this administration accountable to the rule of law.”

The amicus brief highlights that the Executive Order has already caused concrete irreparable harms to the states’ residents, institutions, and businesses. Specifically, the states argue that the Executive Order harmed state colleges and universities, creating staffing gaps, precluding students’ attendance, and imposing additional costs and administrative burdens; that it has disrupted staffing and research at state medical institutions; and that it has immediately reduced tax revenues and is harming the economies of the states more broadly.

In the brief the states also urge the court to enter a preliminary injunction, because without continued relief from the Executive Order, the states will see a return of the chaos in airports as experienced the weekend following the issuance of the Executive Order. The states argue that without the extension of the current temporary restraining order, serious harms will continue to fall on the affected individuals who live, work, and study in their states, to their families and communities, and to the institutions and businesses that employ and educate them.

The amicus brief is available here.

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