U.S. District Judge James Robart said in an order Friday that motions or a complaint over the revised ban need to be filed before he can decide.
A federal judge in Seattle who issued the order temporarily halting nationwide implementation of President Donald Trump’s initial travel ban said Friday that because of procedural reasons he won’t immediately rule on whether his restraining order applies to the new travel ban.
U.S. District Judge James Robart said in an order that motions or a complaint over the revised ban need to be filed before he can make a decision. The states of Washington and Minnesota, as well as the Justice Department, have only so far filed notices.
The U.S. Justice Department said in a filing this week that the original order had been revoked and that the court’s restraining order does not limit the government’s ability to immediately begin enforcing the new order.
The states of Washington and Minnesota in a response notice argue that sections of the new order have the same effect as the original one and that the federal government can’t unilaterally decide to change a court’s previous ruling.
Trump’s revised ban blocks new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries including Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program. Unlike the original order, the new one says current visa holders won’t be affected, and it removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.
Washington was the first state to sue over the original ban, which resulted in Robart stopping its implementation around the country. The lawsuit says the initial travel ban was unconstitutional and hurt the state’s businesses and universities.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said this week the revised travel ban has “the same illegal motivations as the original.”
On Friday, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project filed an amended class-action complaint in U.S. District Court, saying the new version discriminates against Muslims and raises the same legal issues as the original.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.
On Twitter Friday, the Washington state Attorney General’s Office said Ferguson was reviewing Robart’s Friday’s order with his legal team to determine next steps.
The revised travel ban is scheduled to go into effect Thursday.
The new ban The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project filed an amended class-action complaint in U.S. District Court on Friday, saying the new version of the travel ban discriminates against Muslims and raises the same legal issues as the original.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge James Robart, who is also overseeing the legal challenge brought by Washington state, and who issued the order halting nationwide implementation of the first ban. Among the plaintiffs in the case are a legal permanent resident who has been trying to bring her 16-year-old son from war-torn Syria and a U.S. citizen who’s trying to bring her 6-year-old son from Somalia.
The Trump administration says it believes its revised