Who's Coordinating Airport Protests and Litigation Resulting In Three Courts Temporally Restraining Trump's Extreme Vetting Order?

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There are now three Federal courts that have restrained President Donald J. Trump’s executive order “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.”

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The first one, which my colleague Patterico covered here, issued by Obama appointed U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly in Brooklyn, N.Y., temporally barred refugees and visa-holders legally in the U.S. from being deported based solely on President Trump’s executive order.

The second one, was issued by Clinton appointed U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., temporally forbid the government from removing about 60 legal permanent residents of the U.S. who were being detained at Dulles International Airport.

The third decision, was issued by Obama appointed U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs and U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G Dein in Boston, Ma., and put a seven-day hold on enforcement of President Trump’s executive order.

None of the three ruling strikes down President Trump’s executive order.

As this litigation got started protests broke out at airports all the across the country including:

  • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
  • New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport
  • Newark Liberty International Airport
  • Washington Dulles International Airport
  • Denver International Airport
  • O’Hare International Airport
  • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
  • Portland International Airport
  • Los Angeles International Airport
  • San Francisco International Airport
  • San Diego International Airport
  • Boston Logan International Airport

And more protests are expected on Sunday in Philadelphia International Airport, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Boise Airport.

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So who is behind protests at more than a dozen of the nations airports and the obviously related litigation?

CNN reports that lawyers at the Americans Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] and other groups flocked to airports across the country. But that’s just part of it.

Plaintiff’s papers in the Brooklyn case were signed by lawyers from the ACLU, a lawyer and legal interns from the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization — apparently associated with Yale, the ACLU’s Immigrates’ Rights Project, the International Refugee Assistance Project Urban Justice Center, the National Immigration Law Center and Jonathan Polonsky Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.

The Boston petition was signed by several lawyers from the Massachusetts ACLU.

The New York Post reports that more than 130 volunteer attorneys were scrambling around JFK, filing lawsuits and offering legal advice to those in custody.

CBS Philly reported that protest at the Philadelphia International Airport are being organized by a growing list of more than 30 organizations, including the Council on American–Islamic Relations and Black Lives Matter Pennsylvania Power and a number of others.

Arab-American advocacy groups “reacted” to President Trump’s executive order including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Council on American-Islamic Relations

According to another CNN report, New York  Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to reverse an earlier decision to restrict passage aboard the JFK Airport AirTrain to ticketed passengers and airport employees only. He also instructed state police and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to assist with security and transportation for protesters.

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Democrat Reps. Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan and Nydia Velazquez of Brooklyn visited JFK Airport Saturday during the protests.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe joined protesters at Dulles International Airport outside Washington.

Arab-American advocacy groups also were reacting to the new order including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Democrats in Congress roundly criticized the executive order. And even some Republicans were critical including Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

Is this the Democrats’ strategy to challenge and resist President Trump that Sen. Al Franken admitted exists, but refused to share during an interview with Rachel Maddow?

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