Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

Democratic attorneys general in four states announced on Thursday that they will try to block President Donald Trump’s revised executive order on travel in court, The Hill reported.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday his office will file a motion asking U.S. District Judge James Robart, who issued the order blocking the first version of the ban, to reaffirm that the order applies to the new version of the travel ban as well.

“We’ve won in court, and the president has had to honor those defeats,” Ferguson was quoted as having told reporters at a press conference in Seattle. “It’s my expectation that we will continue to prevail, and certainly my expectation that the president will continue to respect the decision of the court.”

Ferguson said the state will continue to argue that the travel ban amounts to a ban on Muslims. In the initial suit, Ferguson’s office relied on comments from President Trump and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump backer, who said the president asked him to come up with a legal way to ban Muslims.

The new ban, which was signed by Trump on Monday, blocks citizens of six Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Iraqi citizens, covered by the initial ban, will be allowed to travel to the United States under the new order.

The order is temporary, until proper vetting procedures – a central campaign promise of Trump’s – can be implemented.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said they would join Washington in challenging the new ban.

“President Trump’s latest executive order is a Muslim ban by another name, imposing policies and protocols that once again violate the Equal Protection Clause and Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution,” Schneiderman said in a statement quoted by The Hill.

Earlier this week, the state of Hawaii challenged the new travel ban in court, arguing it would hurt Hawaii’s tourism industry and its businesses, along with Hawaii educational institutions.

Asked about Hawaii’s lawsuit, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration remains hopeful that its new ban will survive court scrutiny.

"I think we feel very comfortable that the executive order that was crafted is consistent with — we’re going to go forward on this — but I think by all means, I don’t— we feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given,” Spicer said.