US lawyer: No Need for Injunction on Travel Ban
The Latest on legal challenges to the Trump administration’s revised travel ban (all times Pacific unless noted):
2:15 p.m.
A hearing on President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban is underway in federal court in Seattle.
Judge James Robart began the session Wednesday by questioning a lawyer for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project about two seemingly conflicting federal laws on immigration.
One gives the president the authority to keep any class of aliens out of the country, and another forbids the government from discriminating on the basis of nationality when it comes to issuing visas.
Attorney Matt Adams responded that while the law does give the president broad authority, Congress later clarified the law to say the government can’t discriminate on the basis of nationality any more than it could bar people based on their race.
___
2 p.m.
A federal judge in Hawaii is considering a request to issue a temporary restraining order against the revised travel ban ordered by President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson says he will issue a written order by 9:01 p.m. PDT, when Trump’s executive order is set to take effect.
Watson made the statement Wednesday after hearing arguments by both sides in the case.
The ban blocks new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily halts the U.S. refugee program.
Hawaii was the first state to file a lawsuit challenging the revised ban.
Its motion for a restraining order contends the ban discriminates on the basis of national origin.
The state also argues that the ban would prevent Hawaii residents from receiving visits from relatives in the six mostly Muslim countries covered by the ban.
The government says Hawaii’s concerns are speculation.
More than half a dozen states are trying to stop the ban.
___
4:45 p.m.
A Justice Department attorney is arguing that there’s no need for a judge in Hawaii to issue an emergency restraining order against the revised travel ban issued by President Donald Trump.
Jeffrey Wall of the Office of the Solicitor General said during a hearing Wednesday that plaintiffs have said little about harm from the ban that was not speculative.
He said Hawaii is making generalized allegations.
Wall said if the judge is inclined to issue an injunction, it shouldn’t be nationwide and should be tailored to the claims raised by Hawaii.
___
1:25 p.m.
Washington state has filed a backup motion in an effort to keep President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban from taking effect as scheduled Thursday.
In a new court filing Wednesday, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the state supports the arguments made in a related case filed by an immigrant rights group based in Seattle that alleges the ban discriminates against Muslims and violates federal immigration law.
U.S. District Judge James Robart is hearing arguments in that case later in the day.
Ferguson said Robart should consider Washington state’s new emergency motion for a temporary restraining order if he doesn’t see fit to issue an order in the case by the rights group or to rule immediately on a prior motion by Washington state.
The Justice Department says Trump’s action is a lawful exercise of presidential authority.
___
1:15 p.m.
The state of Hawaii says an imam from Honolulu has legal standing to assert the First Amendment claim of religious discrimination when challenging President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.
Hawaii’s case for a temporary restraining order to block the ban is being heard Thursday in federal court in Honolulu.
The judge told lawyers that he is more interested in constitutional claims and wanted to know who had such standing in the lawsuit.
Attorney Colleen Roh Sinzdak says a Muslim plaintiff in the lawsuit, Ismail Elshikh, has such standing to challenge the ban. Elshikh says the ban prevents his mother-in-law, who lives in Syria, from visiting family in Hawaii.
Sinzdak says Elshikh and all Muslim residents in Hawaii face higher hurdles in reuniting with family members because of their faith.
She says that harm applies to all residents, not just Muslims.
___
3:15 p.m. EDT
Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin has arrived in a Honolulu federal courtroom, ready to challenge President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.
Chin arrived about 30 minutes before the start of Wednesday’s hearing as legal efforts to overturn the ban now shift to Honolulu.
Chin’s lawsuit claims the ban harms Hawaii by highlighting the state’s dependence on international travelers, its ethnic diversity and its welcoming reputation as the Aloha State.
Hawaii’s lawsuit includes a Muslim plaintiff, Ismail Elshikh, the imam of a Honolulu mosque. He says the ban prevents his mother-in-law, who lives in Syria, from visiting family in Hawaii.
In response, the Justice Department says Hawaii’s claims are mere speculation.
It’s not clear when U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson will rule on the state’s request for a temporary restraining order.
Attorneys from the Washington, D.C., law firm Hawaii has hired will participate by phone. Justice Department attorneys are also phoning in for the hearing.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
