California and 15 other states joined the growing legal challenge to President Trump’s immigration orders, filing an amicus brief Monday supporting Washington state’s lawsuit that argues the directives targeting people from Muslim-majority countries are unconstitutional. Gen. Xavier Becerra announced the friend-of-the-court brief after a federal judge put a nationwide hold on the immigration moratorium and the case was appealed by the Trump administration. The brief, co-written by Becerra's office and its counterparts in New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, argues that Trump’s order harms the state. The attorney general said medical school programs would "risk being without a sufficient number of medical residents to meet staffing needs." The panel will rule on whether an emergency stay against Trump's orders should remain in place until the constitutional issues are decided.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 06, 2017 21:08 UTC