A federal judge in Hawaii decided Wednesday to extend his order blocking President Donald Trump's travel ban, preventing the government from suspending new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and halting the U.S. refugee program.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued the longer-lasting hold on the ban several hours after hearing arguments.

Hawaii says the policy discriminates against Muslims and hurts the state's tourist-dependent economy. The implied message in the revised ban is like a "neon sign flashing 'Muslim ban, Muslim ban'" that the government didn't bother to turn off, state Attorney General Douglas Chin told the judge.

Extending the temporary order until the state's lawsuit was resolved would ensure the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens across the U.S. are vindicated after "repeated stops and starts of the last two months," the state has said.

Watson's ruling is an affirmation of America's value of religious freedom and allows Muslims and refugees to face less uncertainty, the state attorney general's office said in a statement. Chin was traveling to Mexico for a western states attorneys general meeting and heard about the ruling while boarding a plane, said Deputy Attorney General Joshua Wisch, special assistant to Chin.

The government argued the ban falls within the president's power to protect national security. Hawaii has only made generalized concerns about its effect on students and tourism, Department of Justice attorney Chad Readler told the judge via telephone.

The Trump administration had asked Watson to narrow his ruling to cover only the part of Trump's executive order involving the six-nation ban. Readler said a freeze on the U.S. refugee program had no effect on Hawaii.

Watson rejected that argument, preventing the administration from halting the flow of refugees.

"It makes little sense to do so," he wrote. "That is because the entirety of the Executive Order runs afoul of the Establishment Clause, where 'openly available data support a commonsense conclusion that a religious objective permeated the government's action."

Watson said in court that the government only argued for that narrower interpretation after a federal judge in Maryland blocked the six-nation travel ban but said it wasn't clear that the refugee suspension was similarly motivated by religious bias.

Watson noted that the government said 20 refugees were resettled in Hawaii since 2010.

"Is this a mathematical exercise that 20 isn't enough? ... What do I make of that?" the judge asked Readler.

The government attorney replied that 20 is simply a small number of refugees.

"In whose judgment?" Watson asked.

Hawaii was the first state to sue over Trump's revised ban. The imam of a Honolulu mosque joined the challenge, arguing that the ban would prevent his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting family in Hawaii.

In his arguments, Chin quoted Trump's comments that the revised travel ban is a "watered down" version of the original.

"We cannot fault the president for being politically incorrect, but we do fault him for being constitutionally incorrect," Chin said.

Earlier this month, Watson prevented the federal government from suspending new visas for people from Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen and freezing the nation's refugee program. His ruling came just hours before the federal government planned to start enforcing Trump's executive order.

Trump called Watson's previous ruling an example of "unprecedented judicial overreach." The Department of Justice didn't immediately comment on the latest ruling.

Watson wrote that he won't suspend his ruling if the government appeals. Enforcement of both provisions of the ban is prohibited nationwide until he orders otherwise.

Hawaii's ruling would not be directly affected by a decision siding with the federal government in the Maryland case, legal experts said. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set a hearing for May 8 to consider the administration's appeal.

"What a ruling in 4th Circuit in favor of the administration would do is create a split in authority between federal courts in different parts of the country," said Richard Primus, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Michigan law school.

"Cases with splits in authority are cases the U.S. Supreme Court exists to resolve," he said.</s>Live

Here’s our look at the Trump administration and the rest of Washington:</s>Could Zach Watson be next Mikie Mahtook?</s>A federal judge in Hawaii who temporarily blocked President Donald Trump 's revised travel ban hours before it was set to take effect issued a longer-lasting order Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson held a hearing Wednesday on Hawaii's request to extend his temporary hold. Several hours later, he issued a 24-page order blocking the government from suspending new visas for travelers from six Muslim-majority countries and halting the U.S. refugee program.

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin argued that even though the revised ban has more neutral language, the implied intent is still there. He likened it to a neon sign flashing "Muslim Ban," which the government hasn't bothered to turn off.

Chad Readler, a Department of Justice attorney defending Trump's executive order, told the judge via telephone that Hawaii hasn't shown how it is harmed by various provisions, including one that would suspend the nation's refugee program.

Here's a look at Watson's ruling and what comes next:

This month, Watson prevented the federal government from suspending new visas for people from six countries and freezing the nation's refugee program. The ruling came just hours before the ban was to take effect.

Watson, nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama in 2012, agreed with Hawaii that the ban would hurt the state's tourism-dependent economy and that it discriminates based on nationality and religion.

Trump called the ruling an example of "unprecedented judicial overreach."

The next day, a judge in Maryland also blocked the six-nation travel ban but said it wasn't clear that the suspension of the refugee program was similarly motivated by religious bias.

The federal government appealed the Maryland ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and sought to narrow the Hawaii ruling.

Like his temporary order, Watson's new order notes that Hawaii has shown the state's universities and tourism industry will suffer from the ban. A plaintiff in Hawaii's lawsuit, the imam of a Honolulu mosque, will be harmed if the ban is enforced, Watson said: "These injuries have already occurred and will continue to occur if the Executive Order is implemented and enforced; the injuries are neither contingent nor speculative."

Government attorneys have tried to convince the judge not to consider comments Trump has made about the travel ban. "The court will not crawl into a corner, pull the shutters closed, and pretend it has not seen what it has," Watson wrote.

Watson also refused to narrow his ruling to only apply to the six-nation ban, as the government requested.

The ruling won't be suspended if the government appeals, Watson said.

"Enforcement of these provisions in all places, including the United States, at all United States borders and ports of entry, and in the issuance of visas is prohibited, pending further orders from this court," he wrote.

Watson's ruling allows Hawaii's lawsuit challenging the ban to work its way through the courts.

"While we understand that the President may appeal, we believe the court's well-reasoned decision will be affirmed," the Hawaii attorney general's office said in a statement.

Ismail Elshikh, the imam of a Honolulu mosque who joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff, argues that he's harmed by Trump's order because it prevents his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting family in the U.S. It's not clear how Watson's ruling will affect the mother-in-law's ability to obtain a visa.

The Department of Justice didn't immediately comment after Watson issued his decision.

The Department of Justice opposed Hawaii's request to extend Watson's temporary order. But the department said that if the judge agrees, he should narrow the ruling to cover only the part of Trump's executive order that suspends new visas for people from Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

Other provisions of the order have little or no effect on Hawaii, including a suspension of the nation's refugee program, Department of Justice attorney Chad Readler said Wednesday.

In an attempt to downplay the effect suspending the nation's refugee program would have on Hawaii, Readler said only a small amount of refugees have been resettled in Hawaii. But Watson questioned that reasoning by noting that the government said there have been 20 refugees resettled in Hawaii since 2010.

Other parts of Trump's order allow the government to assess security risks, which don't concern the plaintiffs in Hawaii's lawsuit, Readler said.

The revised order removes references to religion, he said.

CAN AN APPEALS COURT AFFECT THE HAWAII RULING?

The president is asking the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put the ruling by the judge in Maryland on hold while it considers the case.

The Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court will hear arguments May 8. If the court sides with the federal government, it would not have a direct effect on the Hawaii ruling, legal experts said.

The Trump administration's best bet for saving the travel ban is to have the case go before the U.S. Supreme Court, said Richard Primus, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Michigan law school.

"What a ruling in 4th Circuit in favor of the administration would do is create a split in authority between federal courts in different parts of the country," he said. "Cases with splits in authority are cases the U.S. Supreme Court exists to resolve."</s>A Hawaii-based federal judge on Wednesday extended an order that blocks implementation of President Trump’s revised executive order on travel and refugees.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson declined to narrow the scope of his prior ruling to block only the travel portion of the order, writing in his 24-page order that “it makes little sense to do so.” His order converts a temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction, which will block the Trump administration from enforcing the travel ban as the lawsuit while the court considers the merits of the case.

The Justice Department had hoped to convince the judge not to extend his order, which since March 15 has prevented the administration from enforcing portion’s of the revised order that temporarily ban travel of foreign nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen to the United States, temporarily block all refugee resettlement in the U.S. and lower the cap on the number of refugees to be allowed into the United States this year from 110,000 people to 50,000 people.

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin said the policy discriminates against Muslims and hurts the state’s economy. The implied message in the revised ban is like a “neon sign flashing ‘Muslim Ban, Muslim Ban”’ that the government didn’t bother to turn off, he said.

The Justice Department had also put forth an alternate option, urging the judge to limit the scope of his order so that the refugee restrictions of the order could take effect. The DOJ argued that Hawaii had not provided adequate evidence that they are harmed by that part of the executive order.

In briefs submitted last week, the Justice Department argued that most of the State of Hawaii’s arguments against the order were focused on the harms the travel restrictions would cause the state’s economy or tourism industry, with little attention paid to the effects of the refugee restrictions. They cited statistics from the State Department’s Refugee Admissions Office that showed since 2010 that just 20 out of more than 530,000 refugees settled in the United States since 2010 were brought to Hawaii for resettlement.

But Judge Watson’s wrote that his preliminary injunction will apply to both section 2 and section 6 of the Trump administration’s order which related to the temporary travel and refugee bans “because the entirety of the Executive Order runs afoul of the Establishment Clause.”

“Put another way, the historical context and evidence relied on by the Court, highlighted by the comments of the Executive and his surrogates, does not parse between Section 2 and Section 6, nor does it do so between subsections within Section 2,” Judge Watson wrote. “Accordingly, there is no basis to narrow the Court’s ruling in the manner requested by the Federal Defendants.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.</s>HONOLULU (AP) - The Latest on a hearing in federal court in Hawaii on President Donald Trump's travel ban (all times local):

A federal judge in Hawaii is questioning attorneys for the Trump administration about their argument that suspending the nation's refugee program has no effect on the state.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson noted Wednesday in a hearing that the government says 20 refugees were resettled in Hawaii since 2010. He asked: "Is this a mathematical exercise that 20 isn't enough? ... What do I make of that?"

Department of Justice attorney Chad Readler replied that 20 is a small number. Watson countered, "In whose judgment?"

Watson is hearing arguments on whether to extend his temporary order blocking President Donald Trump's travel ban until Hawaii's lawsuit is resolved.

Government attorneys are urging a federal judge in Hawaii to be guided by narrower rulings blocking just one subsection of Trump's travel ban.

Department of Justice attorney Chad Readler, participating in a Honolulu hearing by telephone Wednesday, says Hawaii has only made generalized concerns about effects to students and tourism. He says suspending the refugee program has no impact on Hawaii.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson noted earlier that the government only argued for a narrower interpretation after a ruling by a federal judge in Maryland was limited to the ban on new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries.

That judge said it wasn't clear that the suspension of the refugee program was similarly motivated by religious bias.

Hawaii's attorney general is quoting President Donald Trump's comments that the revised travel ban is a "watered down" version of the first one.

In arguments Wednesday, Attorney General Douglas Chin is urging a federal judge not to narrow his order blocking the ban on new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and suspension of the nation's refugee program.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson notes that the government only argued for a narrower interpretation after a ruling by a federal judge in Maryland was limited to the six-nation ban.

Watson says "it came immediately on the heels of Judge Chuang's decision."

A hearing has started in federal court in Hawaii on whether a judge should extend his temporary order blocking President Donald Trump's travel ban until the state's lawsuit is resolved.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson is listening to arguments Wednesday. Even if he doesn't issue a longer-lasting hold on the ban, his temporary block would stay in place until he rules otherwise.

Legal experts say it's unlikely Watson would side with the Trump administration.

The state says the policy discriminates against Muslims, while the government says it falls within the president's power to protect national security.

This month, Watson prevented the federal government from suspending new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and freezing the nation's refugee program.

A federal judge in Hawaii is hearing arguments on whether to extend his temporary order blocking President Donald Trump's revised travel ban.

A hearing in Honolulu is set for Wednesday. But even if U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson doesn't put the ban on hold until the state's lawsuit is resolved, his temporary block would remain until he rules otherwise.

Legal experts say it's unlikely Watson would side with the Trump administration.

Government attorneys say that if the judge issues a longer-lasting hold, he should narrow his ruling to cover only the part of the ban that suspends new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries.

They say the lawsuit doesn't show how Hawaii would be harmed by other sections of the ban, including suspending the nation's refugee program.

Watson also prevented that section from taking effect two weeks ago.</s>A federal judge in Hawaii is questioning attorneys for the Trump administration about their argument that suspending the nation's refugee program has no effect on the state.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson noted Wednesday in a hearing that the government says 20 refugees were resettled in Hawaii since 2010. He asked: "Is this a mathematical exercise that 20 isn't enough? ... What do I make of that?"

Watson is hearing arguments on whether to extend his temporary order blocking President Donald Trump's travel ban until Hawaii's lawsuit is resolved.

Government attorneys are urging a federal judge in Hawaii to be guided by narrower rulings blocking just one subsection of Trump's travel ban.

Department of Justice attorney Chad Readler, participating in a Honolulu hearing by telephone Wednesday, says Hawaii has only made generalized concerns about effects to students and tourism. He says suspending the refugee program has no impact on Hawaii.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson noted earlier that the government only argued for a narrower interpretation after a ruling by a federal judge in Maryland was limited to the ban on new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries.

That judge said it wasn't clear that the suspension of the refugee program was similarly motivated by religious bias.

Hawaii's attorney general is quoting President Donald Trump's comments that the revised travel ban is a "watered down" version of the first one.

In arguments Wednesday, Attorney General Douglas Chin is urging a federal judge not to narrow his order blocking the ban on new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and suspension of the nation's refugee program.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson notes that the government only argued for a narrower interpretation after a ruling by a federal judge in Maryland was limited to the six-nation ban.

A hearing has started in federal court in Hawaii on whether a judge should extend his temporary order blocking President Donald Trump's travel ban until the state's lawsuit is resolved.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson is listening to arguments Wednesday. Even if he doesn't issue a longer-lasting hold on the ban, his temporary block would stay in place until he rules otherwise.

The state says the policy discriminates against Muslims, while the government says it falls within the president's power to protect national security.

This month, Watson prevented the federal government from suspending new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and freezing the nation's refugee program.

A hearing in Honolulu is set for Wednesday. But even if U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson doesn't put the ban on hold until the state's lawsuit is resolved, his temporary block would remain until he rules otherwise.</s>U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson turned an earlier temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by the state of Hawaii, which is arguing that Trump's directive discriminated against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution.</s>Government attorneys appealed Thursday, March 30th to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It comes the day after U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued a longer-lasting hold on key provisions of Trump’s executive order.

The government says in court documents that the appeal also applies to a temporary order that Watson previously issued that halted the suspension of new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and a freeze on the U.S. refugee program.

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin says he expected the government to appeal.

Watson’s written order says he won’t suspend the ruling for an appeal.</s>Hawaii’s attorney general says a federal judge’s decision to extend an order blocking President Donald Trump’s travel ban affirms values of religious freedom.

State Attorney General Douglas Chin says Wednesday’s longer-lasting ruling means that Muslims and refugees will face less uncertainty.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson granted Hawaii’s request to extend his previous temporary block of provisions that would suspend new visas for six Muslim-majority countries and halt the nation’s refugee program.

Watson rejected the government’s request to narrow his ruling to apply only to the six-nation ban. Watson is stopping the government from enforcing both provisions until he orders otherwise.

Attorneys for the government didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Watson issued his 24-page ruling several hours after a hearing on Hawaii’s request.
In response to a federal appeal, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson (Hawaii), who on March 15 issued a temporary, national restraining order on implementation of the revised federal immigration/refugee rules, upgrades his earlier ruling to a preliminary injunction until Hawaii's lawsuit is resolved.