CHICAGO — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Monday joined her counterparts in 15 other states and the District of Columbia in support of a federal lawsuit that has halted President Donald Trump's immigration and travel ban.
Madigan put her name on an amicus brief — or a friend of the court — document in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco supporting a lawsuit filed by the states of Washington and Minnesota opposing the president's executive order.
“Our country was built by immigrants and refugees who came here in search of a better life,” Madigan said in a statement. “Illinois is home to nearly 2 million immigrants who contribute to our state in invaluable ways. I will fight to ensure Illinois remains a safe and welcome home for immigrants and refugees.”
Over the weekend, a federal district judge issued a halt to the travel ban that suspended all U.S. refugee resettlement for 120 days, barred Syrian refugees indefinitely and blocks travel into the U.S. for 90 days for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
It also caused confusion for green card holders from those seven countries and stalled them from automatically re-entering the U.S. again if they travel abroad.
The San Francisco appeals court refused to reinstate the action after an emergency request from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The federal appeals court, helmed by three judges, can decide to schedule another hearing or simply issue a ruling.
The suit filed by Washington state and Minnesota focus on the negative effects the ban would have on their states and their economies. The brief filed by Madigan and the other attorney generals includes similar claims for their states.
The brief includes information on the number of immigrants and overall impact that the travel ban may have on the state of Illinois.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign "has over 300 enrolled students from the affected countries" and has already admitted 20 students for the Fall 2017 term from those countries, according to the brief.
The brief also cites data from 2014 and 2015 that says "more than 50,000 foreign students contributed an estimated $1.5 billion to the economy of Illinois." The brief also says that in Illinois, 22.1 percent of entrepreneurs are foreign-born, and businesses owned by immigrants employ more than 281,000 people.
Read the court filing:
