16 Democratic state attorneys general on Sunday blasted President Donald Trump’s executive order for travel bans, vowing to fight it and calling his demands “unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful.”
“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,” said the joint statement, according to The New York Post.
“Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country and no president can change that truth,” added the attorneys general.
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, according to The New York Post.
The statement did not detail specific actions the attorneys general plan to take against Trump’s executive order, but did say they will use “all of the tools of our offices” to fight the bans.
“We are confident that the Executive Order will ultimately be struck down by the courts,” the statement from the attorney generals 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,” it added.
The executive order, signed by Trump on Friday, bars Syrian refugees indefinitely and halts the country's refugee resettlement program for four months.
It also denies entry for 90 days to people from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.
The executive order resulted in protests across the United States and was also challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
On Saturday, in response to the ACLU appeal, a federal judge ruled government officials had no right to detain those who landed in the U.S. holding valid visas. However, the ruling will only affect those who were in transit when the ban was imposed, and will not affect the rest of Trump's executive order.
On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly tweaked the policy and issued a blanket waiver allowing immigrants holding green cards, or entitled to permanent residence in the U.S., to enter the country.