SEATTLE _ Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said he will file a lawsuit Monday seeking to invalidate key provisions of President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily barring refugees and limiting travel by citizens of seven majority Muslim countries.
Ferguson said the lawsuit will be backed by declarations from companies including Expedia and Amazon.com that will testify to the economic impacts of Trump's immigration order.
Speaking at a news conference announcing the lawsuit, Gov. Jay Inslee said of Trump's order: "Its impact, its cruelty, its clear purpose is an unconstitutional religious test."
Signed on Friday, Trump's order sparked a wave of protests across the country over the weekend, with huge crowds pouring into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport amid reports that refugees and immigrants from countries targeted by the travel ban were being detained there.
Two men_citizens of Yemen and Sudan_were released Sunday morning after being detained at the airport by agents from Customs and Border Protection. Volunteer lawyers for the two obtained an emergency temporary restraining order preventing their removal from the country pending a hearing this week.
Other elected officials, including Sen. Patty Murray, Inslee and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, have condemned the executive order.
Inslee and Ed Murray joined thousands of protesters Sunday at a rally in downtown Seattle to denounce the order and the Trump administration for imposing it.
