FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wednesday, February 28, 2018

CONTACT:  Sara Rabern (605) 773-3215 

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined 14 State Attorneys General and the Governors of Maine and Mississippi in a lawsuit supporting the President’s Proclamation suspending the entry of aliens from eight countries with a heightened national security risk into the United States.

“Our Nation’s inconsistent immigration policy is affecting our public safety and workforce in South Dakota. I am supporting President Trump’s temporary suspension of aliens from eight countries identified as posing a heightened national security risk. It is time for Congress to address our public safety and workforce needs with a comprehensive immigration policy,” said Jackley. 

The Proclamation’s travel restrictions classify aliens by nationality and not religion. The Attorneys General argue that the challenged Proclamation is a lawful exercise of the President’s broad authority to suspend the entry of any class of aliens from the following countries:

• The eight covered countries- Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia- are identified as “Countries of Identified Concern,” from which entry is suspended or limited as “detrimental to the interest of the United States.” The Proclamation restricts aliens that were outside the U.S. on the effective date of the Proclamation and who did not have a valid visa on the effective date of the Proclamation. It also applies to aliens who did not have a visa that was cancelled or revoked under an Executive Order issued on January 27, 2017.

The President’s Proclamation has been challenged, and the 12 State Attorneys General and Governor of Maine have weighed in to support the action taken to protect the public and our national security.  The State Attorneys General and Governor argue they “have a significant interest in protecting their residents’ safety. But because the States possess no authority to restrict or set the terms of aliens’ entry into the United States for public safety and national-security reasons, the States and their elected officials rely on the federal Executive Branch to carry out that function, pursuant to the laws of Congress.

Attorney General Jackley’s Video Statement on Immigration Travel Restrictions for Eight Heightened Security Countries 

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