Prez’s updated travel ban halted by federal judge
Revision facing similar challenges as 1st
WASHINGTON — A federal judge blocked implementation of a new White House travel ban last night just hours before it was due to go into effect, dealing another blow to President Trump, whose first attempt to bar people from several majority-Muslim countries fell in a legal challenge.
Honolulu-based U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson granted an order halting the ban nationwide.
It was one of several challenges argued yesterday by opponents of the order, who claim the ban not only targets Muslims and endangers refugees, but also will harm families, businesses and educational institutions in Boston and throughout the country.
The revised executive order, signed by Trump last week, temporarily bars people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, considered terrorism-producing nations. The new order omits Iraq, which was on the original list, as well as leaving out language granting entry preference for religious minorities, which opponents said was aimed at Christians and was evidence of an attempt to ban Muslims.
The new order also exempts green card holders from the ban, as well as those who applied for a visa before the order went into effect.
The changes were intended to make the order withstand legal challenges and also avoid the chaos created when the first order was put in place, causing more than 100 travelers en route to the United States to be detained or returned to their points of origin.
The administration tasked Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, whose job is usually focused on arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, to defend the law in lower courts in Hawaii, the state of Washington and Maryland, arguing that the ban is not aimed at Muslims and doesn’t violate would-be entrants’ rights.
“It doesn’t say anything about religion,” Wall said, arguing that the ban is necessary to beef up national security. “It doesn’t draw any religious distinctions.”
Opponents — including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who is challenging the ban in court, and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who filed a brief urging a court to block it — said the changes in the law don’t cure its constitutional or practical problems.
“This ban would mean our clients will be separated from their families for another four or five or six months,” said Justin Cox, an attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. “Many of these family members are in very dangerous and deplorable conditions.”