Lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota have told a federal appellate court that restoring President Donald Trump's ban on refugees and travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries would "unleash chaos again."
The filing with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco came early Monday after the White House said it expected the federal courts to reinstate the ban.
Washington and Minnesota said their underlying lawsuit was strong and a nationwide temporary restraining order was appropriate.
If the appellate court reinstated Trump's ban the states said the "ruling would reinstitute those harms, separating families, stranding our university students and faculty, and barring travel."
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The legal maneuvers by the two states were accompanied by a declaration filed by John Kerry and Madeleine Albright, former secretaries of state, along with former national security officials under President Barack Obama.
They said Trump's ban would disrupt lives and cripple US counterterrorism partnerships around the world without making the nation safer.
"It will aid ISIL's propaganda effort and serve its recruitment message by feeding into the narrative that the United States is at war with Islam," according to the six-page declaration filed in court.
"Blanket bans of certain countries or classes of people are beneath the dignity of the nation and Constitution that we each took oaths to protect," the declaration added.
The technology industry also argued against the ban, contending it would harm their companies by making it more difficult to recruit employees.
Tech giants like Apple and Google, along with Uber, filed their arguments with the court late Sunday.
The next opportunity for Trump's team to argue in favour of the ban will come in the form of a response to the Washington state and Minnesota filings.
The 9th Circuit ordered the Justice Department to file its briefs by 6 pmMonday. It had already turned down a Justice request to set aside immediately a Seattle judge's ruling that put a temporary hold on the ban nationwide.
That ruling last Friday prompted an ongoing Twitter rant by Trump, who dismissed US District Court Judge James Robart as a "so-called judge" and his decision "ridiculous."
Trump renewed his Twitter attacks against Robart on Sunday.
"Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!"
The Twitter attacks on Robart - appointed by President George W. Bush - prompted scolding from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats.
