Trump’s latest travel ban order blocked
Image copyright Reuters Image caption A woman (middle) travelling from Jordan on a Yemeni passport arrives in Los Angeles, California
US President Donald Trump’s latest bid to impose travel restrictions on citizens from eight countries entering the US has suffered a court defeat.
A federal judge slapped a temporary restraining order on the open-ended ban before it could take effect this week.
The policy targets Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea, as well as some Venezuelan officials.
Previous iterations of the ban targeted six Muslim-majority countries, but were checked by the Supreme Court.
The state of Hawaii sued in Honolulu to block Mr Trump’s latest travel ban.
It argued the president did not have the powers under federal immigration law to impose such restrictions.
US District Judge Derrick Watson, who blocked Mr Trump’s last travel ban in March, issued the new restraining order.
Judge Watson wrote that the new policy “suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor”.
He 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'”.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Trump promised “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” when he was a presidential candidate last year.
