In federal court this morning, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed an amended complaint together with attorneys Susan Church and Kerry Doyle, and the law firm Mintz Levin, which expands their ongoing challenge to President Trump's illegal, unconstitutional and dangerous executive order banning entry to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The lawsuit was originally filed on Saturday evening, January 28, on behalf of two lawful permanent residents of the U.S. who were detained at Logan Airport after returning from international travel. Following a hearing that began late on January 28 and went until nearly 2 a.m. on January 29, a federal district court in Boston issued a temporary restraining order that, for seven days, prohibits the government from relying on the executive order to detain or remove anyone who is otherwise legally authorized to enter the U.S.
The amended complaint adds as plaintiffs several noncitizens who are legally in the United States and now fear that, if they leave, they will be unable to return.
The amended complaint also adds Oxfam America, Inc., as a plaintiff, alleging that the international aid organization's First Amendment rights are threatened by President Trump's order. Yesterday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed a motion to join the case on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
"The ACLU welcomes Attorney General Healey and Oxfam America in our challenge to President Trump's illegal, unconstitutional, and dangerous executive order," said Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. "Their participation highlights the importance of this case to the lives of people throughout Massachusetts, the nation and the world. We welcome all freedom-loving people to join efforts to defend our democracy, and to ensure liberty and justice for all."
Raymond Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America said, "As a Boston–based global organization with a diverse workforce operating in more than 90 countries around the world, including five of the seven countries affected by the executive order, we are joining this lawsuit because our ability to continue to carry out our lifesaving work around the globe and in some of the world's worst ongoing humanitarian crises is severely jeopardized. Oxfam is proud to stand with the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as plaintiffs in this case."
"Mintz Levin is proud to be partnering with the ACLU, the Attorney General's office and others who are standing up for the rights of these individuals and for all individuals, regardless of their nationality, race or religion, whose right to due process has been denied by this overly broad and unlawful action on the part of the President," said Susan M. Finegan, Chair of Mintz Levin's Pro Bono Practice and a Member of the Litigation Practice. "Beyond the enormous human toll, this order stands to have a substantial impact on businesses, large and small, in Massachusetts and beyond, who rely on skilled, law-abiding individuals from other parts of the world."
To view the amended complaint, click here.
To view more information about the case, click here.
