AG Ferguson to visit WWU to discuss lawsuit challenging Trump travel ban

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson will be at Western Washington University on May 2 for a discussion about his lawsuit challenging an executive order by President Donald Trump.

“See You in Court, Mr. President!” will run from 2-3 p.m. in Miller Hall 138, the university said. The event is free and open to the public.

The university’s Political Science Department is hosting the discussion, which will focus on the attorney general’s lawsuit that challenged Trump’s order temporarily barring immigrants and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries. After a presentation about the lawsuit, Ferguson will take questions from the audience, the university said.

The lawsuit, filed in late January, claimed the travel ban violates the Constitution’s equal protection guarantees as well as the First Amendment’s prohibition against a government establishment of religion, by disfavoring Islam.

Ferguson’s lawsuit made Washington the first state to sue Trump over the immigration order. A panel of judges in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the temporary restraining order in early February, delivering Ferguson a high-profile legal victory against the new administration.

Ferguson also challenged a revised version of the bill that dropped Iraq from the list of targeted countries.

Ferguson has clashed with the new administration on other issues. In late February, he said he would defend the state’s recreational marijuana laws. The AG also sent guidelines earlier this month to local governments on how to deal – or not to deal – with immigration issues.

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "AG Ferguson to visit WWU to discuss lawsuit challenging Trump travel ban."