US travel ban: Hawaii judge blocks Donald Trump’s revised travel hours before coming under effectban

Thursday, October 19, 2017

On Tuesday, judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii temporarily blocked US president’s revised travel ban which barred citizens of eight countries to enter the US. Another judge in Maryland blocked the travel ban yesterday, just a few hours before the orders were to get under effect.

Tuesday’s judgement by Watson in the court of Honolulu came after American Civil Liberties Union had filed a law suit. The judge said president Donald Trump’s travel ban “plainly discriminates based on nationality”, and added that the president does not have powers to use these measures under the federal law.

After delivering a speech at the United Nations general assembly, in which Trump spoke to “totally destroy North Korea” to defend the US and its allies, Trump added North Korea to the third version of his travel ban on September 24. Chad citizens, Venezuelan government officials and their families were also barred from entering the country, while ban on Sudan was lifted. Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen are the other five countries, whose citizens were blocked by Trump.

On September 25, Trump tweeted, “Making America Safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet.” Countries which failed to meet a threshold level of security standards were banned.

Calling the hearing as “dangerously flawed” which would stop government from “enacting protection” for the country, the White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, “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”.

Watson, who had also blocked the second travel ban, said the government did not demonstrate how an individual’s nationality and the threat were related. “The categorical restrictions on entire populations of men, women, and children, based upon nationality, are a poor fit for the issues regarding the sharing of ‘public-safety and terrorism-related information’ that the president identifies”, Watson’s judgement read. The court also said imposing stricter restrictions on other nations except Venezuela and Iraq did not reflect administration’s security standard reasons and those countries also did not meet the threshold conditions expected by the United States.

The second travel ban, which was partially accepted by the US Supreme Court after Watson blocked it, was suspended by the apex court after Trump announced his revised list last month, with the addition of Chad, North Korea and limited blockade for Venezuela. Earlier this month, Australian federal government blocked under-19 football team of North Korea from entering the country, as foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop said, “Hosting the team would be contrary to the Government’s strong opposition to North Korea’s illegal nuclear and missile development programmes”.

Courts of Washington state, Massachusetts, California, Oregon and New York are also to hear cases against this travel ban. Douglas Chin, the attorney general of Hawaii said, “This is the third time Hawaii has gone to court to stop President Trump from issuing a travel ban that discriminates against people based on their nation of origin or religion. Today is another victory for the rule of law. We stand ready to defend it.”

Despite the additions of North Korea and partial ban on Venezuela, Hawaiian court said the ban reflected Trump’s election manifesto of “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”. Previous versions of his travel ban were limited to Muslim majority countries, which exceptions for citizens having study visa, and close family relation with green card holders of the US.

Trump’s travel ban against Muslim people has received critisisism. On October 10, US rapper Eminem took the BET Hip Hop awards as stage to perform a freestyle rap in which the rapper said “racism is the only thing” Trump was “fantastic for” and mentioned Trump was trying to get “rid of […] immigrants” as well as the Trump wall which Trump promised during his election campaign to stop Mexicans getting in the country.

Blockade of this travel ban, however does not liberate Turkish citizens from getting a non-immigrant visa to the States from within Turkey. Unrelated to Trump’s travel ban, the US embassy in Turkey’s capital Ankara issued a statement saying they were suspending new requests for non-immigrant visas with immediate effect. Ambassador John Bass explained this measure would reduce the number of visitors while they “assess the commitment of the Government of Turkey to the security of our diplomatic facilities and personnel”.

Turkish officials has arrested two Embassy staff members this year. Metin Tous, a Turkish employee at the embassy, was arrested on October 4 for allegedly having ties with Fethullah Gülen, who is currently in the US, in exile from Turkey accused by the Turkish government for playing a major role in last year’s failed coup. On March 7, Turkish police had arrested Hamza Uluçay, who worked as a translator in the US consulate in Adana, and was accused of belonging to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, which the Turkish government has labelled a “terror organisation”.

John Bass explained the ban is not to prevent Turkish citizens from entering the US. Citizens who already have a US visa can visit the country. And they can apply for visas from embassies outside Turkey, Bass clarified in the statement.

In response, Turkish Embassy in the Washington, DC released a similar statement which banned granting any type of visa including sticker visa, e-visa and border visa.

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