Attorneys General From 16 US States Vow To Fight Trump's Travel Ban

NEW YORK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jan, 2017 ) : Attorneys General from 16 U.S. states vowed Sunday to fight President Donald Trump's executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.

"As the chief legal officers for over 130 million Americans and foreign residents of our states, we condemn President Trump's unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful Executive Order," a joint statement said.

"Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country and no president can change that truth." The statement was issued by the attorneys general for New York, California, Pennsylvania, Washington, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Virginia, Oregon, Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois, New Mexico, Iowa, Maine, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman tweeted the statement and said his fellow prosecutors would "work together to fight" Trump's actions. "Together we are the chief legal officers for 130M+ people & we won't hesitate to protect their rights #NoBanNoWall," he tweeted.

The statement did not detail specific actions the attorneys general plan to take against Trump's order. But it said they will use "all of the tools of our offices" to fight the bans.

The AG announcement comes on the heels of four Federal judges "from New York, Washington, Massachusetts and Virginia" issuing orders since Saturday night to halt parts of Trump's bans.

Each court order combated different parts of Trump's orders, but all sought to stop the expected deportation of travelers in custody. "We are confident that the Executive Order will ultimately be struck down by the courts," the statement from the attorneys general said.

"In the meantime, we are committed to working to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created." Trump's executive order temporarily suspended America's refugee programme and all travelers from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

It also indefinitely ended the intake of Syrian refugees. The travel bans resulted in immediate chaos and confusion at airports nationwide "including New York's JFK Airport " with passengers being detained Saturday due to their country of origin. Some of those detained were green card residents of the United States. Some also remained in custody as of Sunday afternoon.