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Federal judge in Hawaii blocks revised Trump travel ban nationwide Federal judge in Hawaii blocks revised Trump travel ban nationwide
(about 1 hour later)
A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked Donald Trump’s revised travel ban just hours before it was due to go into effect, marking another stinging blow to the administration.A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked Donald Trump’s revised travel ban just hours before it was due to go into effect, marking another stinging blow to the administration.
Judge Derrick Watson, a district judge in Honolulu, issued a nationwide temporary restraining order against the travel ban, which targets visa applicants from six Muslim majority countries and temporarily suspends the US refugee resettlement. Judge Derrick Watson, a district judge in Honolulu, issued a nationwide temporary restraining order against the travel ban, which targets visa applicants from six Muslim majority countries and temporarily suspends the US refugee resettlement program.
Earlier in the day lawyers for the state of Hawaii had argued the revised order was unconstitutional and would do damage to the state’s economy and educational and religious institutions. The ruling comes a month after Trump’s first order was blocked by a court in Washington state, prompting the administration to issue a narrower order last week that attempted to navigate some of the complaints made in the first round of legal battles.
The order comes a month after Trump’s first order was blocked by a court in Washington state, prompting the administration to issue a new order last week. But earlier in the day lawyers representing the state of Hawaii had argued the revised order was subject to the same constitutional complaints as the first attempted travel ban because it represented another veiled attack on Muslims.
More to follow … The claim was rejected by government lawyers who argued the order was issued on national security grounds and displayed no hostility or “animus” towards a particular religion, because the majority of Muslims in the world would not be affected by it.
Ultimately, Judge Watson ruled against that defense stating in a court order that the state of Hawaii, and a local imam who joined the legal challenge as another plaintiff, had “shown a strong likelihood of succeeding on their claim” that the new order was unconstitutional.
“The illogic of the government’s contentions is palpable,” Watson continued in a forthright rebuke. “The notion that one can demonstrate animus toward any group of people only by targeting all of them at once is fundamentally flawed.”
He added that court would not interpret the religious protections clause in the constitution in a “purely mathematical” manner.
The ruling came after a series of last minute federal court hearings around the country on Monday, where the government was forced to defend the new ban against similar claims.
Judges in Maryland and in Washington state are also set to rule shortly.
But the Hawaii decision sets up a protracted legal battle for the Trump administration, which will likely appeal the decision. Trump had indicated after his last ban was blocked by a judge in Washington state that he was willing to take the case to the supreme court. That ruling was upheld in a unanimous ruling by a federal appeals court. Ultimately, however, he issued the revised order to replace the first ban in the hope it would make it through the courts instead.
Lawyers involved in other cases across the country reacted with delight to the Hawaii ruling.
Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union said the federal judge had recognised that “the revised order, like the first, continues to discriminate on the basis of religion and would have a real impact on thousands of people fleeing bad situations in their home countries”.
Gelernt added that, should Trump appeal, “we are prepared for a long court battle if necessary”.
Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations responded to news of the Hawaii opinion with relief. “Time and time again we are proving that America is a nation of laws and that we have an independent judiciary to tell Donald Trump that he cannot play with the US constitution. We are reassured by these rulings that discrimination will not be tolerated no matter where it comes from, not even the president of the United States.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at a Trump rally in Nashville, Tennessee, he had no immediate comment on the ruling.