Two weeks ago, Douglas Chin, Hawaii’s Attorney General, blocked President Donald Trump’s second ban on Muslims entering the United States. Since then, the issue hasn’t made such huge headlines, but efforts are still being made on both sides to push the block forward or prevent it from being enacted, The Washington Post reports.
Yesterday, Chin submitted a revised request to Hawaii’s District Court to lengthen the period of time his block of the ban would remain in place. Derrick Watson, Hawaii’s District Judge (who oversees the District Court), has supported blocks against the ban in his rulings.
According to Politico, the request has been approved and the block has been extended by Watson. “‘Based upon the preliminary record available, however, one cannot conclude that the actions taken during the interval between [the] revoked Executive Order .. and the new Executive Order represent 'genuine changes in constitutionally significant conditions,’” said Watson.
In response to defenders of the ban who attempted to stop Watson from including Trump’s own comments about the ban in his ruling, the District Judge was resolute. “‘The court will not crawl into a corner, pull the shutters closed, and pretend it has not seen what it has,’” Watson wrote. Empty and failed promises aside, what Trump says is (oh so unfortunately) significant for politics, international relations and the state of our country.
Trump’s initial ban, issued shortly after he was inaugurated, was widely criticized for being blatantly discriminatory against all Muslim people. The second ban was revised to remove Iraq from the list of banned countries, and clarified the groups, such as greencard holders, that were exempt from its ruling.
In addition to the Hawaii block, a Maryland judge issued a block as well. According to the Post, “The president is asking the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put the ruling by the judge in Maryland on hold while it considers the case.” Arguments for and against the block are supposed to be heard in early May.
Donald Trump himself, meanwhile, has tweeted the same New York Post article twice in the past two days (here and here) about “the failing [New York Times]” and its attempts to besmirch him. So, thankfully, our president is paying attention to exactly the right issues.