This class action lawsuit, filed January 30, 2017, challenged President Trump’s January 27, 2017, Executive Order (EO-1) ban on admission to the U.S. of nationals of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (in Seattle). Plaintiffs were represented by the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and the American Immigration Council. The case was assigned to District Judge James Robart.
The original plaintiffs were (1) a U.S. citizen and her six-year-old son, then a Somali citizen with a pending immigrant visa application; (2) a U.S. citizen and his 12-year-old daughter, then a Yemeni citizen with an approved immigrant visa application; and a lawful permanent resident and her 16-year-old son—then a Syrian citizen with a pending immigrant visa application. In each case, plaintiffs sought to be reunited as families living in the U.S. The plaintiffs claimed that pursuant to EO-1, review of their pending visa applications was suspended and the plaintiff with the approved visa application was not allowed to board a flight to the U.S.
The complaint argued that EO-1 violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and Fifth Amendment Equal Protection and Due Process rights. The complaint sought class certification, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief against President Trump in his official capacity, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
On February 2, 2017, the plaintiffs filed a motion seeking certification of a class of
“All nationals of countries designated by Section 3(c) of Executive Order # 13769 (currently Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen), who have applied for or will apply for an immigrant visa and the visa petitioners for those nationals, whose visa applications have been or will be suspended or denied, whose immigrant visas have been or will be revoked, or who have been or will be denied the ability to travel to the United States, on the basis of Executive Order # 13769.”
Plaintiffs then filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order.
However, on March 6, 2017, the President rescinded the January 27 EO and replaced it with a narrower one,
Executive Order 13780 (EO-2). Accordingly, on March 7, the government filed a notice of EO-2 in this case.
In response to EO-2, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on March 10, 2017. They claimed that EO-2 did "not remedy the unlawful discrimination against Plaintiffs and proposed class members on these bases, but rather continues it." Two of the plaintiffs from the original complaint left the lawsuit but six others joined the amended complaint.
The amended complaint and accompanying motion for class certification sought to define a class consisting of
"all nationals of countries designated by Section 2 of Executive Order 13780 (currently Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen), who have applied for or will apply for an immigrant visa and the visa petitioners for those nationals; whose visa application adjudication has been or will be suspended or denied, or who have been or will be denied the ability to seek entry into and/or enter the United States, on the basis of Executive Order 13780."
The complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, Fifth Amendment equal protection and due process rights, and the Establishment Clause.
That day, the plaintiffs also filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctive relief, as well as four accompanying declarations. The motion argued that pending the court's decision in
Washington v. Trump on whether or not its nationwide injunction of EO-1 applied to the new EO, "Plaintiffs and proposed class members face immediate irreparable harm on March 16, 2017, the order’s effective date" if the court choose not to extend the nationwide injunction to the EO-2.
On March 17, 2017, the district court stayed the emergency motion in light of the nationwide preliminary injunction granted in
Hawaii v. Trump, so as to "conserve its resources and to benefit from any Ninth Circuit rulings in
Hawaii v. Trump regarding [EO-2]." On March 30, the government then moved to stay district court proceedings in this case pending the resolution of the defendant's appeal of the preliminary injunction granted in
Hawaii v. Trump.
The district court stayed proceedings on May 22, 2017, pending the Ninth Circuit's resolution of the appeal in
Hawaii v. Trump and further review by the Supreme Court. In September 2017, the Trump Administration issued
Proclamation 9645 (EO-3) banning immigration from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Yemen, Somalia, and certain groups of non-immigrants from these countries.
In light of EO-3, the Supreme Court vacated its injunction of EO-2 in
Hawaii v. Trump and remanded the case to the district court October 2017. The district court in
Hawaii then quickly enjoined the third ban. But
Hawaii made its way back to the Supreme Court which upheld EO-3 as constitutional in June 2018. The district court in this case stayed proceedings as the
Hawaii litigation developed. In light of the Supreme Court's decision in
Hawaii, the parties then filed a joint status report in July 2018 where they agreed that the plaintiffs’ pending motions for class certification and injunctive relief were moot, and that the Supreme Court's ruling resolved most of their claims. On September 17, 2018, the plaintiffs filed an unopposed notice for voluntary dismissal.
The district court dismissed the case on September 21, 2018. The case is now closed.
Virginia Weeks - 01/31/2017
Julie Aust - 02/24/2017
Jamie Kessler - 01/30/2018
Virginia Weeks - 09/25/2018
Esteban Woo Kee - 11/19/2021
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