What to Know
- Protests continued Monday after rallies broke out at airports across the U.S. over the weekend in response to Trump's immigration policies
- Protesters have turned out in droves, though supporters of the president said they've been pleased with his first week in office
- New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker have been among the fiercest critics of President Trump
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has joined other states' top government lawyers in suing the Trump administration over the president's highly controversial executive order restricting travel for refugees and immigrants from several Muslim-majority nations.
Calling Donald Trump's 90-day travel ban "unconstitutional, unlawful and fundamentally un-American," Schneiderman said he was proud to partner with other Democrat attorneys general "to fight to permanently strike down this dangerous and discriminatory order."
"I will continue to do everything in my power to not just fight this executive order, but to protect the families caught in the chaos sown by President Trump's hasty and irresponsible implementation – including pressing DHS and CBP to provide a full list of those still detained and allow them access to legal service providers," Schneiderman said in a statement.
The federal lawsuit was originally filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale University, the Urban Justice Center, and the National Immigration Law Center. Washington and Massachusetts were among the first states to join the suit, which asks a judge to throw out key provisions of the executive order issued Friday.
Schneiderman told The Associated Press that lawyers, including attorneys general, are having an "awakening" regarding the Trump administration.
"This is a president who does not have respect for the rule of the law," he said. "That's something that bothers a lot of people."
Schneiderman has given model legislation to local governments in New York showing them how to become sanctuary cities that would refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on some immigration enforcement matters.
Their plan for legal pushback has precedent: Several Republican attorneys general made it a practice to routinely file lawsuits against the policies of former President Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, thousands continue to protest Trump's order at rallies in New York City and across the nation following a weekend of confusion and outrage.
The tri-state, like much of the country, is fiercely split on ideological lines.
Though protests are visible and widespread, a national Quinnipiac University poll released Monday says American voters support, 48 to 42 percent, “suspending immigration from 'terror prone' regions, even if it means turning away refugees from those regions.”
On Staten Island, where 60 percent of voters chose Trump, the new president has their vote of approval.
