The Trump administration is poised to appeal a Hawaii federal judge’s decision to extend an order that temporarily blocks President Trump’s revised travel ban, according to a report Thursday.
“The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the federal district court’s ruling,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement obtained by CNN. “The President’s executive order fails squarely within his lawful authority in seeking to protect our nation’s security, and the department will continue to defend this executive order in the courts.”
U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson granted a motion on Wednesday to convert the March 15 temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction until the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration has been resolved.
Watson’s freeze affects two key parts of Trump’s executive order: a 90-day suspension of travel from six majority-Muslim countries and a 120-day freeze on refugees entering the U.S. It was set to be enforced on March 16 before it was blocked.
While the Trump administration argues its revised travel ban is well within its purview to maintain national security, Hawaii said it discriminates against Muslims, which would be a violation of the Constitution, and hurts the state’s economy.
The Justice Department’s next step will be to file a formal appellate brief with Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled against Trump’s original ban.
Attorneys for the Justice Department have already appealed a separate injunction by a judge in Maryland, which only focused on the immigration ban. That case has moved on to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
