Federal Judge Blocks Third Attempt at Travel Ban
by Richard D'Ambrosio
Photo: Shutterstock
A federal judge in Hawaii has issued a temporary order blocking President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban on citizens of six countries.
The third version of Trump’s travel ban was declared discriminatory based on nationality by United States District judge Derrick Watson, who said Trump had exceeded the authority Congress gives to presidents to impose restrictions on people looking to enter the country.
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This modified ban was set to be enacted today, Wednesday, Oct. 18, restricting travel from, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen. In his ruling, Watson pointed out that the principle the administration used to create the list —that these countries failed to meet U.S. security assessment requirements—wasn’t applied to other nations equally.
In his ruling, Watson pointed out that Iraq failed the U.S. government’s security assessment.
The original travel ban and a second ban issued in March included Muslim-majority countries only. As the executive orders were obstructed by lawsuits in federal courts, judges issued temporary orders and the Trump administration attempted to modify the orders to circumvent the objections.
North Korea and Venezuela were added to the current travel ban last month. The judge did not block the orders banning most travel from these two countries.
Watson wrote on Tuesday that the latest ban “lacks sufficient findings that the entry of more than 150 million nationals from six specified countries would be ‘detrimental to the interests of the United States.’” The state of Hawaii filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order nationwide.
In a statement, the White House called Watson’s ruling “dangerously flawed.” The Justice Department said government lawyers will appeal the decision in an “expeditious manner.”
Judges in district courts in Maryland and Washington are also reviewing the latest travel ban, with Washington state set to hold arguments Oct. 30.
