(Bloomberg) -- Hawaii says President Donald Trump's latest attempt to restrict foreigners' travel to the U.S. is just the latest outgrowth of his stated aim to enact a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the country.
The state asked a federal judge in Honolulu Tuesday for permission to challenge the third iteration of the president's travel ban, scheduled to go into effect Oct. 17. Hawaii said the latest ban, like its precursors, is unconstitutional. It will also impair the state's tourism industry, prevent the University of Hawaii from recruiting qualified individuals and undermine its refugee resettlement program.
The revised policy, issued Sept. 24, limits or bans entry into the U.S. from eight countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Chad, North Korea and Venezuela. It supersedes a ban that had affected six mostly Muslim countries and is indefinite, while the second travel ban was for 90 days.
Hawaii is challenging the president's “continuing efforts to impose a sweeping policy banning the entry of refugees and nationals of Muslim-majority countries,” according to the proposed amended complaint, which seeks to block the executive order from taking effect.
The second version of the ban had reached the Supreme Court after lower courts mostly blocked the president's orders. The high court dropped the travel-ban hearing it had scheduled for Oct. 10 but hasn't decided what to do with the underlying case.
While the Trump administration told the high court last week that it should dismiss the pending case, challengers urged the justices to review the policies, even while saying they may prefer to let lower courts hear arguments on the new order.
The case is State of Hawaii v. Trump, 17-cv-00050, U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii (Honolulu).
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in New York at jschneider5@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wollman, Peter Blumberg
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
