WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Friday backed a lawsuit challenging Maine’s decision to block nonresidents from using campgrounds amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration’s second such move against state orders.
“State governments cannot limit the right of out-of-state Americans to travel to their state unless doing so is substantially related to protecting the public safety,” it said in a statement, adding that the state action was harming campground businesses.
The department last week backed a lawsuit challenging Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Editing by Franklin Paul)
