Class action lawsuit claims Trump administration blocking some Muslims from re-entering US

Muslims, including many proprietors of Yemeni-owned businesses, pray outside Brooklyn Borough Hall during a protest of President Donald Trump's executive order barring immigration from 7 Muslim-majority countries. PHOTO: NYTIMES

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The Trump administration is violating the rights of some nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries targeted in a travel ban by barring their re-entry into the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a proposed class action lawsuit filed on Thursday (Feb 2).

The lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in federal court in the Northern District of California are student visa holders, including one Yemeni national who left the United States and is unable to come back, according to the court documents.

The lawsuit is a proposed class action brought on behalf of the people who are living in the United States or who have lived in the country and are originally from the Muslim-majority nations named in President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning entry from those countries.

The plaintiffs and the members of the class "fear that, in the event they attempt to enter or re-enter the United States, they will be denied permission to do so," the lawsuit said.

A representative for the Department of Justice could not be reached for comment late on Thursday.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal actions challenging the executive order. Federal judges in several states have placed limits on the executive order, which Mr Trump issued last Friday.

The suit says the executive order is an attempt by Mr Trump and his aides to fulfill a campaign promise to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

"Senior advisers to defendant Trump have engaged in anti-Muslim rhetoric that provide additional support for the notion that the Executive Order was prompted by animus toward Islam and Muslims," the suit said.

The lawsuit accuses Mr Trump and his administration of violating the free speech, religious freedom and due process rights of the some nationals from the seven Muslim-majority countries through the executive order.

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