International Refugee Assistance Project et al v. Trump et al

Filing 40

NOTICE by HIAS, Inc., Allan Hakky, International Refugee Assistance Project, Jane Doe 1, John Doe 1-4, Samaneh Takaloo of Intent to File a Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Cox, Justin)

February 10, 2017
The Honorable Theodore D. Chuang
United States District Court
District of Maryland
6500 Cherrywood Lane
Greenbelt, MD 20770
Re: International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump, No. 8:17-cv-00361-TDC
Dear Judge Chuang:
We represent the plaintiffs in the above-referenced matter, and we write pursuant to § II.A
of the Case Management Order to request a Pre-Motion Conference regarding Plaintiffs’ desire to
file a motion for a preliminary injunction.
Plaintiffs challenge an executive order signed by President Trump on January 27, 2017,
entitled “Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Entry into the United States” (hereinafter, the
“Executive Order”). Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the Executive Order violates
various constitutional and federal statutory provisions. In particular, there is voluminous and
compelling evidence that the Executive Order was intended and designed to make it more difficult
for Muslim immigrants to enter this country, precisely because they are Muslim, and that the order
has that effect. The Executive Order thus violates two vital constitutional protections—the
guarantee that the government shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, and the
guarantee of equal protection of the laws. See Washington v. Trump, No. ___ F.3d ____, 2017
WL 526497, at *7 (9th Cir. Feb. 9, 2017) (noting “the serious nature of the allegations the States
have raised with respect to their religious discrimination claims”). The balance of hardships and
the public interest also clearly favor granting a preliminary injunction.
Plaintiffs respectfully submit that the proposed motion is appropriate notwithstanding the
fact that portions of the Executive Order are preliminarily enjoined pursuant to an order of the U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Washington. The Washington injunction is currently on
appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has set an expedited briefing schedule. And
while yesterday the Ninth Circuit denied a motion to stay the injunction pending appeal, 1 the
federal government could still seek rehearing of that decision and/or a stay from the Supreme
Washington v. Trump, 2017 WL 526497 (refusing to stay the district court’s preliminary
injunction of §§ 3(a), 5(a), 5(b), 5(c), and 5(e) of the Executive Order).
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Court. In light of the uncertainty regarding how long it will remain in effect and the continued
harms inflicted and threatened by the Executive Order, Plaintiffs wish to move expeditiously for a
preliminary injunction of the order as a whole.
Plaintiffs therefore respectfully request a Pre-Motion Conference and seek the Court’s
leave to file a motion for a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement and implementation of
the Executive Order in its entirety.
Respectfully submitted,

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]

/s/ Justin B. Cox
Justin B. Cox (Bar No. 17550)
National Immigration Law Center
1989 College Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30317
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[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]

Cecillia D. Wang††
Cody H. Wofsy††
American Civil Liberties Union
Foundation
39 Drumm Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

† Appearing pro hac vice

David Cole†
Daniel Mach†
Heather L. Weaver†
American Civil Liberties Union

†† Pro hac vice motion pending

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Foundation
915 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
/s/ David Rocah
David Rocah (Bar No. 27315)
Deborah A. Jeon (Bar No. 06905)
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]

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