Trump’s travel ban put on hold by Hawaii judge

The revised travel ban signed into law by controversial US President Donald Trump has been put on hold by a judge in Hawaii.

Following the ruling by US District Judge Derrick Watson on Wednesday who issued an emergency halt to the order, it will now be halted just hours before it was set to go into effect.

In his arguement, Watson said the new order will harm its Muslim population, tourism and foreign students. Ismail Elshikh, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the ban will prevent his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting.

Watson concluded in his ruling that while the order did not mention Islam by name, “a reasonable, objective observer … would conclude that the executive order was issued with a purpose to disfavour a particular religion”.

Recall that days after the state of Hawaii filed an amended lawsuit to stop Trump’s revised travel ban at a federal court in Honolulu, several other states such as Washington, Massachusetts, Oregon and New York say they’ll follow suit.

Washington was the first US state to sue over Trump’s initial travel ban that created chaos worldwide and was eventually blocked, but the state in renewed suit argued that the revised order violates the constitution “by disfavouring Islam”.

According to Trump’s minders, the revised travel ban aims to address legal issues with the original order, which caused confusion at airports, sparked protests around the country and was ultimately blocked by federal courts.