The court system remains busy with challenges to President
Donald Trump's attempts to block certain travelers from entering the U.S.
A federal district court in Hawaii has issued a temporary
restraining order to block the third version of Trump's travel ban. This
occurred Tuesday, a day before the president's proclamation was scheduled to go
into effect.
This third travel ban affects travel from Chad, Iran, Libya,
Somalia, Syria, Yemen and -- new to the 3.0 version -- North Korea and
Venezuela. District Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii said the latest travel ban,
which was issued Sept. 25 and scheduled to go into effect Oct. 18, fails to
prove that entry into the U.S. of nationals from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia,
Syria and Yemen would hurt the U.S.
Watson's order allows the ban on travel into the U.S. by
North Koreans and the small group of Venezuelans cited in Trump's order.
Whether Trump was trying, by adding those two countries, to
prove that his travel bans are not focused on Muslims, Watson blocked
enforcement of the ban on the Muslim-majority countries. He said the
proclamation does not prove that nationality makes a country's citizens a
larger risk to the U.S.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the countries
included in the third travel ban are based on an "inability or
unwillingness to share critical information necessary to safely vet
applications, as well as a threat assessment related to terrorism, instability
and other grave national security concerns."
Watson's decision also said Trump's latest ban doesn't "explain
why some types of visitors from a particular country are banned, while others
are not." Additionally, he indicated that existing laws should address the
president's concerns.
Another case that originated in Watson's court, a challenge
to the second travel ban, went into limbo on the Supreme Court's docket when
Trump issued the latest ban. That case challenges the part of the second ban
that blocks refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days. However, the 120-day
period expires Oct. 24, making the case moot.
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Source: Business Travel News