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| Federal judge in Hawaii blocks revised Trump travel ban nationwide | Federal judge in Hawaii blocks revised Trump travel ban nationwide |
| (35 minutes 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 program. | 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 a joint 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.” | “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. | He added that court would not interpret the religious protections clause in the constitution in a “purely mathematical” manner. |
| Crucially, Judge Watson’s ruling also referenced inflammatory statements made by Trump throughout the campaign that singled out Muslims and the Islamic faith as a broad national security threat. The judge described these remarks as “significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus” driving the first and second order. | |
| News of the ruling broke shortly before Trump addressed supporters at an evening rally in Nashville, Tennessee. The president was visibly irate as he admonished the decision, branding it “an unprecedented judicial overreach” and vowed to appeal the decision in court. | |
| “You don’t think this was done by a judge for political reasons, do you?” Trump said sarcastically. The comments were similar to those he made after his first travel ban was struck down by a federal judge in Washington whom he branded in a later tweet a “so-called judge”. | |
| “This ruling makes us look weak, which we no longer are, by the way,” Trump added at the rally as the crowd booed. | |
| The president continued to concede that second order was a “watered down” version of the first ban and suggested, off the cuff, that he may “go back to the first one and go all the way” indicating he was willing to take the case to the supreme court, setting up the prospect of a protracted legal battle. | |
| The attorney general of Hawaii, Doug Chin, who brought the legal challenge on behalf of the state, said in a press conference on Wednesday night that the ruling represented the US system of checks and balances in action. “Whenever you have hostility towards a particular religion or nation of origin, that’s certainly going to be improper and a violation of the constitution.” | |
| Asked to respond to Trump’s denunciation of the court opinion as making the country “look weak”, Chin said that on the contrary “what you are actually seeing is the strength of the American system. What you are seeing is the system working.” | |
| 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. | 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 in the coming days. | |
| Lawyers involved in other cases across the country reacted with delight to the Hawaii ruling. | 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”. | 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”. | 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.” | 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.” |