A federal judge in Hawaii struck down the Trump administration’s latest travel ban under the grounds that it “plainly discriminates based on nationality.”
The judge, Derrick Watson, argued in his ruling that the travel ban “suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor: it 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,’ a precondition that the Ninth Circuit determined must be satisfied.”
The latest travel ban would have denied visas to those from Iran, Syria, Libya, Chad, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea. Under Judge Watson’s ruling, only those traveling from Venezuela and North Korea could be denied entry into U.S.
The ruling comes in response to the state of Hawaii suing the latest travel ban, claiming that the ban undermined America’s “founding values of religious freedom and equality.” The Trump administration argued that the executive branch has the authority to restrict immigration. The Department of Justice is expected to appeal Watson’s ruling.
Here is a roundup of tweets gloating about the travel ban being struck down:
Trump's unconstitutional #MuslimBan was never about safety. It was about xenophobia and hatred. https://t.co/2T2oOFQOus
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) October 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/JeanGrey80/status/920369229899149312
The Muslim Ban has been blocked. Again. #NoMuslimBanEver https://t.co/LiAELWN7v3
— ACLU (@ACLU) October 17, 2017
And here are tweets of those lamenting the ruling:
So if 93 federal judges throw out lawsuit against a policy, but 1 judge issues nationwide injunction,our [erroneous] system will abide by it
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) October 17, 2017
We're at a state of war with some of these countries, yet Judge Watson said not enough ample justification was given for stopping visas.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) October 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/josh_hammer/status/920368934540410880
The travel ban would have gone into effect on Wednesday had it not been for Watson’s ruling.
