by Donald Wood
Last updated: 2:15 PM ET, Tue October 3, 2017
Just a few days after President Donald Trump and his administration revealed a new travel ban, several groups have filed the first lawsuits against the executive order.
According to The Associated Press, a group consisting of Muslim and Iranian-American advocates and a nonpartisan legal institute filed lawsuits Monday in federal courts in New York and Maryland.
The first lawsuit filed was in the Southern District of New York on behalf of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. The lawsuit claims the State Department must comply with a Freedom of Information Act request to turn over documents detailing the information-sharing practices of foreign countries and justifying the decision to exclude travelers from select countries.
As for the second lawsuit, it was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Iranian Alliance Across Borders and six individuals, who argue the new travel ban restricts travel for citizens of predominantly Muslim countries, which violates the Constitution.
"Iranian Americans, and other affected communities, have had to familiarize themselves with ambiguous new laws and policies every few months because of this president's obsession with fulfilling a flawed campaign promise to ban Muslims from the United States," National Iranian American Council's legal counsel Shayan Modarres said. "This erosion of fundamental American values must stop."
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The U.S. Department of Justice, State Department and White House did not release comments on the ongoing litigation.
The new travel ban replaces the previous executive order that was set to expire in September after its 90 day trial period. As part of the updated regulations, citizens of seven countries, including Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen will be impacted by the new legislation.
In addition, the new travel ban also calls for the suspension of non-immigrant visas for government officials and their immediate families from Venezuela. The new regulations are expected to take effect October 18.
The latest travel ban is the Trump administration's third measure to limit travel, all of which have faced numerous challenges in courts across the country.
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