The Council on American-Islamic Relations [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] Monday challenging the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s executive order [text] restricting immigration from several Muslim-majority nations. The order specifically blocks immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Citing the “vulgar animosity” of the order, the suit alleges the measure suffers from “constitutional infirmity” because it effectively bans a subset of Muslims from entering the nation and so violates the Fifth Amendment. The plaintiffs, composed of attorneys and activists, request a speedy hearing to grant an injunction preventing the administration carrying out the discriminatory portions of the order.

Trump’s decision to ban many individuals from the countries specified remains controversial. The Eastern Division of Virginia issued an order [text, PDF] on Saturday stating that all legal permanent residents detained under the order had the right to a lawyer and that they could not be removed from the US for the next seven days. After acting US Attorney General Sally Yates instructed the Department of Justice not to defend the order, President Donald Trump fired her [NYT report] Monday night.