Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson [official website] on Thursday requested [text, pdf] that federal judge James L. Robart [official profile] block President Trump’s new travel ban, arguing that the suspension of the first ban should apply to the second. The March 6 executive order from the Trump administration is similar to the the original travel ban executive order [texts], which has been subject to significant legal challenges. The State of Washington cites that the new ban imposes the same economic hardships and other issues of the first order, suspending visas from 6 majority Muslim countries for 90 days, and suspending immigration for refugees for 120 days. Washington says that the new ban still violates the Equal Protection Clause and Establishment Clause of the United State Constitution [14 Amendment].

President Donald Trump’s [official bio] series of executive orders overhauling immigration in the name of protecting the borders from terrorist threats have led to a series of legal challenges. JURIST Guest Columnist Ali Khan of Washburn University School of Law discussed the effects of the original travel ban on the increased harassment [JURIST op-ed] at US airports by US Customs and Border Protection officials. As much as the order has had an impact on those trying to get into the United States, it has also tested the very fabric of the US system of governance. In February JURIST Guest Columnist Victor Williams discussed how the travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration has tested the separation of powers [JURIST op-ed]between the executive and judicial branches of government.