Trump’s Travel Ban Blocked by US Federal Judge for the Third Time

In order to prevent potentially dangerous individuals from entering the United States, President Donald Trump and the Justice Department have attempted to pass a controversial travel ban (for the third time) that restricts citizens from eight different countries to enter the United States.

On Tuesday,  U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson from Hawaii largely blocked Trump’s latest attempt on his travel ban that was introduced in late September and was supposed to go into effect early this Wednesday.

Judge Derrick K. Watson, who also challenged the first and second travel ban attempts said, “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’, and it plainly discriminates based on nationality.”

Travel Ban Updated

Trump’s third version of the travel ban was meticulously crafted by the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, and Justice.

The update on the travel ban restricts travelers from five of the original nations listed in January—Somalia, Iran, Syria, Libya, and Yemen—and added three more countries to the ban—Chad, North Korea, and some government officials from Venezuela. Sudan and Iraq were removed from the list.

Watson’s order only affects the six majority-Muslim countries and does not include North Korea and Venezuela.

Trump is Ready to Fight Back

The White House released an official statement saying that Judge Watson’s “dangerously flawed order undercuts the President’s efforts to keep the American people safe and enforce minimum security standards for entry into the United States. These restrictions are vital to ensuring that foreign nations comply with the minimum security standards required for the integrity of our immigration system and the security of our nation.”

The decision from Judge Watson to block the travel ban is sure to be appealed by the Justice Department, but for now, the Trump administration will not be able to restrict the entry of citizens from six of the eight countries listed in the travel ban.