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California joins states challenging travel ban

California's attorney general has announced he will join the list of plaintiffs fighting against the Trump administration's revised travel ban.

(CBS 8) — California's attorney general has announced he will join the list of plaintiffs fighting against the Trump administration's revised travel ban. 
 
Washington state's attorney general Bob Ferguson played a crucial role in putting a stop to president Donald Trump's original travel ban. 

Although that ban has since been revised, he continues to fight and is now being joined by other states including Hawaii and California. 

In a statement released Monday by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, he said, in part: 

The Trump administration may have changed the text of the now-discredited Muslim travel ban, but they didn't change its unconstitutional intent and effect. It is still an attack on people - women and children, professors and business colleagues, seniors and civic leaders - based on their religion and national origin. 

Sunday night, dozens of protesters gathered outside San Diego Lindbergh Field criticizing the plan, echoing Becerra's take. 

"Even though there were some changes in the wording, essentially it's the same thing - it targets Muslims and countries,"  said protest organizer Mohamed Abdallah.

The new ban, which is scheduled to go into effect Thursday, bans travel from six countries instead of seven and no longer impacts current visa holders. 

Changes, White House officials say will hold up in court. 

By phone, Ilene Durst, an associate professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, told us that may not be the case. 

"It may run a little bit more smoothly from an administrative perspective, but in terms of legal claims, there's still quite a bit of evidence to support that it's motivated by religious and nationality discrimination," said Durst. 

Hence, making it unconstitutional - unless the Trump administration can prove the ban will safeguard the American public.  

"There's still very little evidence to support that this is an effective way to protect national security," Durst said. 

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