Kerry, Albright Warn Court Against Travel Ban

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Kerry and Madeleine Albright, both former secretaries of state, are joining former top U.S. national security officials in asking the courts to continue blocking President Donald Trump's recent immigration order.

Most of the former officials served under President Barack Obama. They said travel restrictions on seven Muslim-majority nations would disrupt "thousands" of lives," while likely "endangering U.S. troops in the field" and hurting partnerships with other countries to combat terrorism.

The group wrote that the order will aid the Islamic State group's "propaganda effort and serve its recruitment message by feeding into the narrative that the United States is at war with Islam." They add: "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 six-page document was provided to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The San Francisco-based appeals court has already turned down a Justice Department request to set aside immediately a Seattle judge's ruling that put a temporary hold on the ban nationwide.