Trump’s revised travel ban order blocked by Asian American judge

by Henni Espinosa, ABS-CBN News

A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s new travel order, just hours before it was to take effect at midnight on Thursday.

This is the second time that his executive order on immigration was blocked by the courts — and the new president is irate.

“This is the opinion of many, and an unprecedented judicial overreach,” he said.

US District Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii placed the nationwide freeze on President Trump’s second attempt at a travel ban, following arguments that the ban would violate the US constitution by discriminating against people on the grounds of their national origin.

“We felt compelled to assure that we will not tolerate discrimination, on the basis of national origin or religion because that truly goes against the very essence of what makes Hawaii a very special place,” said Hawaii’s Governor, David Ige. “And so, certainly, we felt compelled to file the lawsuit — and are very happy that the court agreed with our position.”

President Trump’s revised executive order would have temporarily barred the entry of most refugees, as well as travelers from six muslim-majority countries: Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

Unlike the previous travel ban, the new one excluded Iraq from the list of banned countries, and spared those with green cards and visas.

President Trump says he will not stop fighting if it means securing the nation.

“We’re going to fight this terrible ruling,” he announced. “We’re going to take our case as far up as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court.”

Filipino-American Republican leader Rudy Asercion supports Trump’s quest for justice in the courts.

“The President of the United States is given a wide berth when it comes to immigration, and keeping American people safe,” Asercion said. “It’s interesting to note that Judge Watson was appointed by Mr. Obama, and the ruling was made based on the campaign rhetorics, instead of the merits of the executive order.”

Loreto Dimaandal, a Pinay Democratic leader, says she hopes there will be a similar ruling in more than half a dozen states, that also tried to stop the ban.

“So this kind of stuff, executive orders that are being rushed and being put into place, should not be the case,” Dimaandal said. “They should be studied judiciously. They should be coordinated with the federal agencies.”

“And we make sure we protect civil liberties in this country, and there’s no racism involved.”

The Justice Department has yet to reveal its next legal steps in defending President Trump’s immigration restrictions.