RICHMOND – Attorney General Mark Herring, flanked by Gov. Terry
McAuliffe, announced Jan. 31 that Virginia is taking legal action against
President Donald Trump’s executive order banning immigrants from seven
predominantly Muslim countries.
Herring called the order “unconstitutional and unlawful.”
He said Virginia is already being hurt by the immigration ban.
Herring said it affects the state’s businesses, schools and communities. He
said the executive order prevents students who have visas to study at American
universities from continuing their education.
“The commonwealth is compelled to intervene in the case pending
in the Eastern District of Virginia challenging that executive order,” Herring
said.
The case, Aziz v. Trump, was filed Jan. 28 by Tareq Aqel
Mohammed Aziz, Ammar Aqel Mohammed Aziz, Aqel Mohammed Aziz and John Does 1-60
as a civil action after the individuals were detained at Dulles International
Airport.
The plaintiffs believe they were targeted because they are
Muslim. They are alleging denial of due process and violation of constitutional
rights regarding religion as well as a breach of the Immigration and
Nationality Act and other laws.
“We have been working around the clock since Friday to examine
this executive order before reaching this conclusion,” Herring said. “This is
not an action I take lightly, but it is one I take with confidence in our legal
analysis, and in the necessity of intervening to both protect the
commonwealth’s own sovereign interests and vindicate its residents’ civil
rights.”
McAuliffe said many companies have told him they are worried
about their employees not being able to return to the U.S. He said he supports
Herring’s legal action because of the commonwealth’s belief in religious
freedom.
On Jan. 27, Trump signed the executive order barring immigration
from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The president said he
took the action to protect the nation from potential terrorists. Trump’s order
prevents citizens from the seven countries from entering the U.S. for three
months.
In addition, Trump said the U.S. would not admit any refugees for
four months. He suspended the entrance of refugees from Syria indefinitely.
After signing the order, Trump said it was not “a Muslim ban.”
“You see it in the airports, you see it in security. It’s working
out very nicely,” Trump said. “We’re going to have a strict ban, and we’re
going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for
many years.”
The action has sparked protests across the United States.
On Jan. 28, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a
temporary restraining order blocking the enforcement of portions of the
executive order. The restraining order allowed permanent residents of the U.S.
being detained at Dulles access to lawyers and prevented them from being
deported.
However, the restraining order was ignored by the Customs and
Border Protection Agency and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority,
according to advocates for the detainees. They said customs and airport
authorities refused to give the detained individuals access to lawyers.
