AG Swanson: Minnesota will continue lawsuit against Trump

Lori Swanson
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson
Jim Mone | AP 2014

Minnesota attorney general Lori Swanson said she's gratified by a federal appeals court panel's refusal to reinstate President Trump's travel ban.

"A whole lot of people were swept up in what was a very chaotic and poorly implemented roll-out," she told All Things Considered host Tom Crann.

Swanson joined the state of Washington's suit against the ban — which restricted travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries — saying it was broad-based.

Minnesota will continue with the suit, Swanson said, though she's not sure what the Trump administration will do next.

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The ban remains restricted, and Swanson says people may continue to travel from the affected countries.

"Many of the people who were impacted are people who had student visas or worker visas," she said, "and as long as they have one of those visas then they are entitled to use that visa to come back. They are not barred from coming."

Trump insists the ban would have protected the U.S. He says his administration is considering signing a "brand new order."

The ban remains the subject of other lawsuits.

Swanson said Minnesota is not planning to join the other suits. She said it made more sense to join Washington state's suit.

"It was a broader based suit. Some of the other suits that are pending were brought by individuals and would have been limited to those individuals and those states' boundaries," she said, "whereas the Washington suit was broader in its scope and was broader in its effect. So that's the suit we're in and that we intend to see through."