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Immigrant Rights Groups File Class Action Suit Challenging Trump Administration’s “Muslim Ban”

January 31, 2017 (2 min read)

AIC, Jan. 30, 2017 - "On January 30, 2017, the American Immigration Council, along with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the National Immigration Project filed a nationwide, class action lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s executive order, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” on grounds that it violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law and statutory prohibition against discrimination. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of tens of thousands of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have filed immigrant visa petitions for their immediate family members who are nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries. The applicants have all gone through a lengthy and rigorous application and screening process in hopes of reuniting with their families in the United States. Now, these applicants, many who have already been approved to enter the United States, are being blocked from reuniting with their families, and the federal government is suspending or revoking their other visa applications.

At issue in this suit is Section 3 of the executive order. This section suspended immigrant visa processing for nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries and prohibited nationals from these countries from entering the United States.   

This section violates an explicit statutory prohibition on discrimination in the issuance of immigrant visas “because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.”  It also violates Plaintiffs’ constitutionally protected rights to family, marriage, and equal protection under the law.  

Plaintiffs and prospective class members seek judicial intervention to cease application of Section 3 of the executive order to persons in the immigrant visa process—U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have successfully petitioned for the immigration of a family member and nationals of the seven designated countries who have applied for visas—to prevent ongoing and future harm to these individuals.  Such intervention is needed to protect the integrity of the United States’ immigrant visa process and the families diligently seeking to reunite with their loved ones."

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Complaint - Class Action for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

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