Federal judge blocks Trump’s revised travel ban

President Donald Trump's second attempt to suspend travel from countries in the Middle East and Africa has been blocked by a federal judge in Hawaii, shortly before becoming effective.

The State of Hawaii and Ismail Elshikh challenged Trump's new March 6 executive order, seeking a nationwide temporary restraining order to prohibit the implementation of sections of Trump's order.

According to the lawsuit, Elshikh is a Hawaii resident and American citizen of Egyptian descent, whose mother-in-law, a Muslim and Syrian national without a visa, would be prevented in the short-term from coming to the United States under a section of Trump's order, unless granted a waiver.

On March 15, U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson granted the temporary restraining order.

The court concluded that the plaintiffs "have met their burden of establishing a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their Establishment Clause claim, that irreparable injury is likely if the requested relief is not issued, and that the balance of the equities and public interest counsel in favor of granting the requested relief."

Trump's executive order was scheduled to take effect March 16.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say that to single out nationals from six predominantly Muslim countries––Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen––Trump's order "causes harm by stigmatizing not only immigrants and refugees, but also Muslim citizens of the United States."

The State of Hawaii and Elshikh also noted comments made by Trump, his close supporters and advisors, such as:

- Trump's false claim that if you're from Syria and you're a Christian, you cannot come into he United States;

- Rudy Giuliani's comments to Fox News saying Trump called him asking to put together a commission to "legally" do a Muslim ban;

- Stephen Miller's comments to Fox News that the new order would "have the same basic policy outcome for the country."

The plaintiffs also claim Trump's executive order subjects portions of Hawaii's population to discrimination and denies them their right "to associate with family members overseas on the basis of their religion and national origin."

Elshikh, Imam of the Muslim Association of Hawaii and a leader within Hawaii's Islamic community, also believes that he and other Muslims will not be able to "associate as freely with those of other faiths" because of the new executive order.

"This is a major setback for President Trump," said Cornell University Law School professor Stephen Yale-Loehr. "The travel ban litigation will continue for a long time, and could reach the Supreme Court."

Trump's promise to suspend immigration from terror-prone places has once again been blocked by courts. We rate this promise Stalled.