In a sign that many attorneys general think Donald Trump's second Muslim ban is substantially the same as his first ban, at least four states are seeking to apply the same nationwide injunction that blocked much of the original ban to the new one. Josh Gerstein writes:
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his office is filing a motion asking a federal judge in Seattle to rule that an existing injunction against the travel ban order Trump issued in January applies to parallel portions of Trump's new directive.
"We’re asserting that the president cannot unilaterally declare himself free of the court’s restraining order and injunction," Ferguson told reporters at news conference Thursday. “It’s our view that that temporary restraining order that we've already obtained remains in effect.”
Ferguson acknowledged that the new order “has been narrowed, but he added: "That does not mean that it’s cured its constitutional problems.”
On Wednesday, Hawaii won a motion to extend its original legal challenge to Trump’s Muslim ban 2.0—a good sign for this aggressive strategy by Ferguson and his colleagues.
As the ACLU said, "Once a Muslim ban, always a Muslim ban." No matter what government lawyers do, it’s going to be difficult for them to escape the stench of unconstitutional bigotry Trump and his top advisers have consistently leveled against Muslims.