Two Federal Judges issue injunctions against enforcement of the latest Trump travel ban

On Tuesday, October 17, Judge Derrick K. Watson, a Federal judge in Hawaii, issued an injunction against the enforcement of large portions of President Trump’s most recent (third) iteration of the travel ban. Fast on the heels of this decision, a second judge, Federal Judge Theodore Chuang of Maryland, also blocked parts of President Trump’s attempt to impose broad and strict limits on who can enter the U.S.  This injunction was filed today, October 18^th, the same day the travel ban was to take effect.  It does not go as far as Judge Watson’s injunction, however, as it applies only to “individuals with a bona fide relationship with an individual or entity in the United States.”

This latest attempt at a travel ban was issued in late September as part of Presidential Proclamation 9645.  The ban was set to be “indefinite” in duration and primarily targeted Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.  It seemingly attempted to avoid treatment as a “Muslim ban”, by including citizens of North Korea and some officials of Venezuela’s government.

Judge Watson of Hawaii issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the ban from being enforced for the six majority-Muslim nations listed in the third executive order.  The state of Hawaii did not challenge the provisions prohibiting any entry into the U.S. by North Korean citizens or certain Venezuelan government appointees and their family members.  These bans will go into effect on Wednesday October 18.

Judge Chuang in Maryland issued a similar injunction blocking the ban from affecting the Muslim-majority countries on the list, while permitting it to apply to Venezuela and North Korea.  Chuang wrote in early Wednesday’s order that the new ban “imposed a permanent, rather than temporary, ban on immigrants from the Designated Countries, and has effectively stopped the issuance of immigrant visas indefinitely.”  The injunction “is granted on a nationwide basis and prohibits the enforcement of Section 2 of Presidential Proclamation 9645 in all places, including the United States, at all United States borders and ports of entry, and in the issuance of visas, with the above exceptions, pending further orders from this Court.”