LAWYERS for the US states of Washington and Minnesota have told a court that restoring President Donald Trump's travel ban would "unleash chaos again".
The filing with the 9th US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco came after the White House said it expected the federal courts to reinstate the ban on refugees and travellers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Washington and Minnesota said their underlying lawsuit was strong and a nationwide temporary restraining order was appropriate.
If the appellate court reinstates Mr Trump's ban on refugees and travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, the two states said the "ruling would reinstitute those harms, separating families, stranding our university students and faculty, and barring travel".
Mr Trump's executive order was founded on a claim of national security, but lawyers for the two states told the appellate court the administration's move hurts residents, businesses and universities and is unconstitutional.
The next opportunity for Mr 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.
In the latest filing, lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota said: "Defendants now ask this Court to unleash chaos again by staying the district court order. The Court should decline."
That ruling last Friday prompted an ongoing Twitter rant by Mr Trump, who dismissed US district court judge James Robart as a "so-called judge" and branded his decision "ridiculous".
Mr Trump renewed his Twitter attacks against Judge Robart on Sunday, writing: "Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!"
US vice president Mike Pence said "we don't appoint judges to our district courts to conduct foreign policy or to make decisions about the national security".
The government had told the appeals court that the president alone has the power to decide who can enter or stay in the United States.
The rapid-fire legal manoeuvres by the two states were accompanied by briefs filed by the technology industry, including Apple and Google, arguing that the travel ban would harm their companies by making it more difficult to recruit employees.
In their court filing, a total of 97 firms said Mr Trump's travel ban "hinders the ability of American companies to attract great talent; increases costs imposed on business; makes it more difficult for American firms to compete in the international marketplace".
The travel ban would prompt businesses to build operations outside the United States, said the companies.
The long list of enterprises looking to join the fight against Mr Trump are among the country's biggest, most high-profile businesses such as Uber, eBay and Netflix.
The companies, in their court filing, said Mr Trump's executive order would destroy the entrepreneurial spirit that fuels American businesses.
