Hawaii Attorney General Pushes Against Trump Travel Ban

WASHINGTON, DC — Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin is among those challenging the Trump administration's latest travel ban on visitors from six mostly Muslim countries. He urged the Supreme Court to reject the administration's plea to be allowed to fully enforce the ban, telling the court that "the justification for that dramatic relief has only weakened" because the latest order, unlike its two predecessors, is permanent.

Federal courts have prevented the administration from banning people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen who can claim a "bona fide" relationship with someone in the United States. Courts have said grandparents, cousins and other relatives count among the close relationships that are required.

In lawsuits filed in Hawaii and Maryland, federal courts said the updated travel ban that Trump announced in September violated federal immigration law. The travel policy also applies to travelers from North Korea and to some Venezuelan government officials and their families, but the lawsuits did not challenge those restrictions.

Last week, the administration said blocking the full ban was causing "irreparable harm" because the policy is based on legitimate national security and foreign policy concerns.

But the challengers said in court papers filed Tuesday that the Supreme Court rejected a similar request from the administration last summer involving an earlier version of the travel ban that was making its way through the courts.

Arguments are scheduled for Dec. 6 before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle. The Maryland case is due to be argued before the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 8 in Richmond, Virginia.

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