Local News

A Look At Legal Challenges To Trump Travel Ban On Predominantly Muslim Countries

February 3, 2017 / 4:21 PM PST / CBS Sacramento

Legal battles are playing out across the U.S. as opponents of President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens from seven predominantly Muslim nations take their fight to the courtroom. Hearings were being held Friday in a few of the cases.

A look at some of the court challenges:

WASHINGTON

A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's travel ban.

U.S. District Judge James Robart granted a temporary restraining order Friday at the request of Washington state and Minnesota that's effective nationwide.

Lawyers for the U.S. government argued the states don't have standing to challenge the order and said Congress gave the president authority to make decisions on national security and admitting immigrants.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson had sued, saying the order is causing significant harm to residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the suit this week.

CALIFORNIA

Three California university students are challenging the ban. Their federal suit, filed Thursday in San Francisco, says the ban is unconstitutional and has created hardships for the students.

It alleges that a freshman at Stanford University now can't visit her husband in Yemen; another Yemeni at San Diego's Grossmont College can't resume studies there; and an unidentified University of California Berkeley doctoral candidate from Iran fears losing a job opportunity.

VIRGINIA

A judge is allowing Virginia to join a lawsuit challenging the travel ban.

Friday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema greatly expands the scope of the lawsuit, which was initially focused only on legal permanent residents, commonly called green-card holders. Brinkema indicated a willingness to consider cases involving anyone who had been issued a visa and had it revoked.

A government lawyer in the case said more than 100,000 people have had visas revoked since the ban went into effect, but the State Department later said the number was close to 60,000. The higher figure included visas that were actually exempted by the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

MASSACHUSETTS

A federal judge in Boston has declined to extend a temporary injunction against President Donald Trump's travel ban.

U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton late Friday refused to renew an order prohibiting the detention or removal of persons as part of Trump's executive order on refugees and immigrants.

That means the seven-day, temporary injunction granted Jan. 29 will expire as scheduled Sunday.

HAWAII

Hawaii is suing the federal government to stop President Donald Trump's travel ban on people from seven majority Muslim countries.

Attorney General Doug Chin says Trump's executive order keeps Hawaii families apart and keeps residents from traveling. He says it degrades values Hawaii has worked hard to protect.

Chin says the order also will make foreign travelers feel unwelcome, which is a problem for Hawaii's tourism-powered economy.

Hawaii filed the lawsuit in federal court in Honolulu on Friday.

NEW YORK

A Brooklyn judge on Thursday extended a temporary restraining order to Feb. 21, but the Justice Department said it will ask her to throw out the case.

U.S. District Judge Carol Amon's ruling extended a stay that had been issued Saturday by a different judge and would have expired Feb. 11. Amon extended the order to give more time the government and civil liberties organizations to file paperwork.

MICHIGAN

A federal judge in Detroit says U.S. green-card holders shouldn't be affected by the order.

The Arab-American Civil Rights League argued in a suit filed this week in Detroit's U.S. District Court that the executive action is unconstitutional and targets immigrant communities.

A restraining order released Friday from U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts covers legal permanent residents, not some others that also are part of the lawsuit. She says lawyers for the government clarified to her that the ban doesn't apply to "lawful" permanent residents.