Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring joined a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s controversial Jan. 27 executive order, announced in a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
The executive order issued a 120-day ban on people from seven countries Muslim-majority countries entering the United States entitled, “Protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.” The countries included Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
On Saturday, Feb. 4, a federal appeals court rejected a request from the White House to overturn the temporary nationwide block a Washington U.S. District Court Judge James Robart imposed on the ban after approximately 60,000 people from the countries had their visas canceled, reported by CBS News.
McAuliffe publicly denounced the executive order, and while meeting with a group of reporters from the state’s public universities, he said, “It’s unconstitutional.”
“This is not the America I know,” McAuliffe added. “This country was built on immigration.”
As the order came without warning, thousands of people were denied entry by airports upon arrival and sent on a return flight home. Of the people affected, two Ethiopian brothers, Tareq Aqel Mohammed Aziz and Ammar, who flew into Dulles International Airport on Saturday, Jan. 28 were handcuffed, told their immigrant visas were canceled and sent back to Ethiopa.
According to The New York Times, the brothers were on their way to Flint, Mich. to join their father, who was a U.S. citizen allowing the two to have legal permanent residency.
In response, the Aziz family filed a lawsuit against Trump. The complaint, filed on Jan. 30, alleged that the executive order violated multiple aspects of the Fifth Amendment, First Amendment, the Immigration and Nationality Act, Administrative Procedure Act and Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The commonwealth of Virginia filed a motion to intervene in the case on Jan. 31, seeking to “adequately represent Virginia’s interest in protecting its residents from the ongoing unlawful enforcement of the recent executive order,” stated the motion.
The state emphasized their concern for the effects of the immigration ban on international college students and faculty in the motion.
The Virginian-Pilot reported that Herring stated 100 Virginia Commonwealth students are unable to go home or return to school due to the ban.
“This is not theoretical,” Herring said in the Pilot. “It’s happening as we speak.”
McAuliffe also expressed his concern toward the message the executive order sends to terrorist groups abroad. He said he thought it would be problematic for national security, as “no one had notice of the order or its implications.”
“He has put a target on every U.S. serviceman across the globe,” said McAuliffe.
The governor said he predicts the case will go to the Supreme Court, ultimately lead to the executive order being ruled unconstitutional.
“He is not king,” said McAuliffe.
Herring joined the attorney generals of New York, Massachusetts and Washington in filing a lawsuit against the order. Former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates stated the U.S. Department of Justice, under her leadership, wouldn’t defend the executive order in court.
Yates was fired on Jan. 30 for her statement as Trump stated she was “betraying the Department of Justice,” according to the National Public Radio.
Several attorney generals across the nation issued a joint letter against the executive order last weekend as well.
Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe
