Judge’s block on Trump travel ban extended further

Hawaii’s request to keep temporary hold was granted

HONOLULU // A US federal judge in Hawaii who temporarily blocked president Donald Trump’s revised travel ban hours before it was set to take effect has issued a longer-lasting order.

US district judge Derrick Watson held a hearing on Wednesday on Hawaii’s request to extend his temporary hold.

Several hours later, he issued a 24- page order blocking the government from suspending new visas for travellers from six Muslim-majority countries and from halting the US’s refugee programme.

Hawaii attorney general Douglas Chin argued that although the revised ban had more neutral language, the implied intent remained. He likened it to a neon sign flashing “Muslim Ban”, which the government has not turned off.

Chad Readler, a department of justice lawyer defending Mr Trump’s executive order, told the judge that Hawaii has not shown how it is harmed by the provisions. Mr Watson disagreed. His order noted that Hawaii has shown the state’s universities and tourism industry will suffer from the ban.

A plaintiff in Hawaii’s lawsuit against the travel ban, the imam of a Honolulu mosque, will also be harmed if the ban is enforced, Mr Watson said.

“These injuries have already occurred and will continue to occur if the executive order is implemented and enforced. The injuries are neither contingent nor speculative,” he said. Government lawyers have tried to convince the judge not to consider comments Mr Trump made about the travel ban.

But notable part of the judge’s ruling, Mr Chin said yesterday, was that the court took into account not just one or two comments, but 20 to 25 statements made by Mr Trump the candidate, Mr Trump the president and his surrogates.

“The court will not crawl into a corner, pull the shutters closed, and pretend it has not seen what it has,” Mr Watson wrote.

The judge also refused to narrow his ruling to only apply to the six-nation ban, as the government requested.

The ruling will not be suspended if the government appeals, he wrote.

“Enforcement of these provisions in all places, including the United States, at all United States borders and ports of entry, and in the issuance of visas is prohibited, pending further orders from this court.” Mr Watson’s ruling allows Hawaii’s lawsuit to work its way through the courts.

“The next move is theirs,” Mr Chin said of the department of justice, adding that the government would be likely to file an appeal. “We believe the court’s well-reasoned decision will be affirmed,” the attorney general’s office said after the ruling.

The imam who is a plaintiff in Hawaii’s lawsuit, Ismail Elshikh, argued that Mr Trump’s order prevents his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting family in the US.

Mr Chin said the mother-inlaw was no longer banned and was able to proceed with the visa process.

Also on Wednesday, US environmental groups and a Native American tribe filed a lawsuit to block the administration’s plans to resume leasing federal lands for coal mining.

‘ These injuries have already occurred and will continue to occur if the executive order is implemented and enforced Derrick Watson US district judge