by Sydney Brownstone

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the lawsuit on Monday. “[The executive order] violates the rule of law and I will not put up with it,” he said. AGOWA

Minnesota, one of the highest refugee-accepting states in the country per capita, has joined the Washington Attorney General’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over its Muslim ban executive order.

An amended complaint with the state of Minnesota added as a plaintiff was filed in US District Court in Seattle on Wednesday. More than 30,000 Minnesota residents were born in the seven countries targeted by Trump’s immigrant and refugee ban. The new complaint notes that 80 staffers, physicians, and scholars of the renowned, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic have ties to those countries as well.

The amended complaint also includes the heartbreaking story of a 4-year-old girl who couldn’t be reunited with her mother and sisters because of Trump’s refugee ban:

Many travel plans to and from Minnesota have been disrupted. For example, a 4-year-old Somali girl, who was separated from her mother and two sisters shortly after being born in a refugee camp in Uganda, was scheduled to arrive on January 30, 2017. Her mother had received visas for herself and her other two daughters, but she was pregnant when they were approved, so her newborn was not covered. She was told that her whole family would have to start the visa process over if she tried to get one for her youngest daughter or she could move to the United States and apply for reunification which would take less than one year. Four years later, the youngest daughter finally received a visa to come to the United States. The young girl was at the airport in Uganda on January 30, 2017, ready to board the plane, but she was not allowed due to the Executive Order.

The first hearing for the case will be held this Friday, February 3. The Washington AG’s office will argue for a wide-ranging temporary restraining order that would freeze the enforcement of Trump’s ban nationwide.