Federal District Court in Hawaii to Hold Hearing on Case that has Temporarily Blocked Key Sections of the Most Recent Refugee Admissions/Travel Ban Executive Order
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
 Judge Watson | A federal district court in Hawaii has scheduled a hearing for this week in the case that resulted in the issuance of a nationwide temporary restraining order (Hawaii Order) blocking the Trump Administration from implementing two key portions of the March 6, 2017, executive order on refugee admissions and travel to the United States. The hearing is scheduled for 3:30 pm EDT on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. |
The question to be examined during the Wednesday hearing is a motion by the state of Hawaii to convert the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction, which would bar the Administration from implementing the enjoined sections until the litigation over the matter is resolved.
The Hawaii Ruling. The Hawaii Order, issued by Judge Derrick K. Watson, United States District Judge for the District of Hawaii, prevents the Administration from implementing sections 2 and 6 of the March 6th executive order. Section 2 seeks to impose a 90-day ban on travel to the United States for persons possessing travel documents from six predominately-Muslim countries. Section 6 contains a number of refugee-related provisions, including one that would impose a 120-day "pause" in the admission of refugees to the United States.
The March 6 Executive Order. Among other things, the March 6th executive order that the Hawaii Orders has partially blocked, cuts refugee admissions to the United States by 60 percent for the current fiscal year; halts refugee admissions to the United States, altogether, for 120 days while the Administration undertakes a study of the security of the U.S. refugee admissions program (USRAP); bars for 90 days travel to the U.S. for the passport holders from six predominately-Muslim countries pending a study of security procedures with respect to the admission of nationals from those countries; and implements a yet-to-be-defined regime of “extreme vetting” for all persons seeking entry to the United States.
The March 6th executive order had been scheduled to replace the embattled January 27th executive order at Midnight on Thursday, March 16th, the date and time on which the March 6th executive order was supposed to have gone into effect. It is unclear when the Administration will be able to fully implement them at this point.
The March 6 Executive Order. Among other things, the March 6th executive order that the Hawaii Orders has partially blocked, cuts refugee admissions to the United States by 60 percent for the current fiscal year; halts refugee admissions to the United States, altogether, for 120 days while the Administration undertakes a study of the security of the U.S. refugee admissions program (USRAP); bars for 90 days travel to the U.S. for the passport holders from six predominately-Muslim countries pending a study of security procedures with respect to the admission of nationals from those countries; and implements a yet-to-be-defined regime of “extreme vetting” for all persons seeking entry to the United States.
The March 6th executive order had been scheduled to replace the embattled January 27th executive order at Midnight on Thursday, March 16th, the date and time on which the March 6th executive order was supposed to have gone into effect. It is unclear when the Administration will be able to fully implement them at this point.