International Refugee Assistance Project et al v. Trump et al

Filing 198

Request for Conference (Jadwat, Omar)

September 29, 2017
Via ECF
The Honorable Theodore D. Chuang
United States District Court
District of Maryland
6500 Cherrywood Lane
Greenbelt, MD 20770
Re: International Refugee Assistance Project, et al. v. Trump, Case No. 8:17-cv-00361-TDC
Dear Judge Chuang:
We represent the plaintiffs in the above-referenced matter. Pursuant to § II.A of the Case
Management Order, Plaintiffs respectfully request a Pre-Motion Conference regarding Plaintiffs’
desire to file both (1) a motion for leave to amend the operative complaint in this case to address
President Trump’s recent presidential proclamation, “Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and
Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or Other PublicSafety Threats” (“EO-3”) (attached) and (2) a motion for a preliminary injunction (or other
relief) suspending the implementation of the visa and entry restrictions set forth in the
proclamation.
President Trump issued EO-3 on September 24, 2017, the day that Section 2(c) of EO-2
(as amended by a June 14, 2017 Presidential Memorandum) expired. EO-3 likewise bans
immigrants, and many or all nonimmigrants, from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen; it
also bans many or all nationals of Chad and North Korea, and certain government officials from
Venezuela. By its terms, EO-3 goes into full effect on October 18. See EO-3 § 7(b). Like
Section 2(c) before it, the EO-3 ban violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and the
Constitution.
Leave to amend would further the interests of justice and is warranted under the liberal
standard of Rule 15(a)(2). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2) (stating that “[t]he court should freely
give leave [to amend] when justice so requires”). Granting leave to amend, moreover, is well
within this Court’s jurisdiction, notwithstanding the pendency of the Defendants’ appeal of this
Court’s March 16, 2017 preliminary injunction. It is well established that an interlocutory appeal
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only divests a district court of jurisdiction “over those aspects of the case involved in the
appeal.” Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount Co., 459 U.S. 56, 58 (1982); Ex parte Nat’l
Enameling & Stamping Co., 201 U.S. 156 (1906) (“The case, except for the hearing on the
appeal from the interlocutory order, is to proceed in the lower court as though no such appeal had
been taken, unless otherwise specially ordered.”); Wright & Miller, Fed. Prac. & Proc. § 3921.2
(3d ed. 2015). Plaintiffs therefore respectfully seek leave to amend their First Amended
Complaint in order to add claims and allegations addressing EO-3 and to add further plaintiffs
who are also directly affected by EO-3.
Before filing this request for a Pre-Motion Conference, Plaintiffs’ counsel met and
conferred with counsel for Defendants, and can convey the following: Defendants oppose
Plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction. Defendants do not oppose the motion for leave to
amend the complaint. However, Defendants request that their obligation to file a response to the
forthcoming Second Amended Complaint be stayed until the Plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction
motion is resolved, and Plaintiffs do not oppose that request.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Omar Jadwat
Omar C. Jadwat†
Lee Gelernt†
Hina Shamsi†
Hugh Handeyside†
Sarah L. Mehta†
American Civil Liberties Union
Foundation
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Karen C. Tumlin†
Nicholas Espíritu†
Melissa S. Keaney†
Esther Sung†
National Immigration Law Center
3435 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1600
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Justin B. Cox (Bar No. 17550)
National Immigration Law Center
P.O. Box 170208
Atlanta, GA 30317
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Cecillia D. Wang†
Cody H. Wofsy†
Spencer E. Amdur†
American Civil Liberties Union
Foundation
39 Drumm Street
San Francisco, CA 94111

David Rocah (Bar No. 27315)
Deborah A. Jeon (Bar No. 06905)
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Sonia Kumar (Bar No. 07196)
Nicholas Taichi Steiner (Bar
No. 19670)
American Civil Liberties Union
Foundation of Maryland
3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 350
Baltimore, MD 21211
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
David Cole†
Daniel Mach†
Heather L. Weaver†
American Civil Liberties Union
Foundation
915 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

† Appearing pro hac vice

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