Story highlights State AG Bob Ferguson announced the legal action Thursday

The new executive order is scheduled to take effect March 16

Washington says the constitutional arguments against the first order still pertain to the new one

(CNN) Washington state asked a federal judge Thursday to block President Donald Trump's new travel ban, claiming that White House officials have admitted "current motivations are no different than the first time around."

Bob Ferguson, Washington state's attorney general, said that despite the recent exclusion of legal permanent residents and visa-holders from the new travel ban, the executive order still suffers from legal flaws, as it "purports to reinstate two provisions of the prior order" a federal judge in Seattle blocked last month.

The state highlighted in Thursday's court filing several statements from the President's "own senior advisers," including White House press secretary Sean Spicer and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, suggesting "the principles of the executive order remain the same," and that the second executive order was intended to address only "very technical issues" and achieve "the same basic policy outcome."

US District Court Judge James Robart issued a nationwide temporary restraining order blocking implementation of key sections of the original travel ban on February 3.

Trump signed a new executive order Monday, however, banning foreign nationals from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days, but specifically excluded green card holders and those with existing valid visas from the new order.

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