By Ben Nuckols and Gene Johnson
Associated Press
President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban was scheduled to be scrutinized in federal courtrooms across the country on March 15.
In Maryland, a U.S. judge was expected to hear arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union and others who want to stop the new directive and more than a half-dozen states are trying to derail the executive order affecting travelers from six Muslim-majority nations.
Hawaii’s lawsuit is heading to federal court in Honolulu.
In Washington state, Attorney General Bob Ferguson is pushing for a hearing before Judge James Robart, who halted the original ban last month. Ferguson wants Robart to apply the ruling to the new ban.
Ferguson says the new order is unconstitutional and harms residents, universities and businesses, especially tech companies such as Washington state-based Microsoft and Amazon who rely on foreign workers.
California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon have joined the claim. Federal lawyers say the revised travel ban is “substantially different” from the original directive.
Immigrant advocacy groups and the ACLU are also suing in Maryland. They want a judge to issue an injunction, saying it’s illegal to reduce the number of refugees in the middle of a fiscal year.
The lawsuit is broader, but the ACLU expects a ruling on that part of the case even if other aspects of the ban are blocked elsewhere.