The state of Hawaii has become the first to launch legal action to stop US President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.
Attorneys for the state filed the lawsuit in federal court in Honolulu.
The state had previously sued over Mr Trump’s initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country.
Hawaii gave notice on Tuesday night that it intended to file an amended lawsuit to cover the new ban, which is set to come into force on March 16.
The revised executive order bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily shuts down the US refugee programme. It does not apply to travellers who already have visas.
Hawaii’s lawsuit says the order will harm the state’s Muslim population, tourism and foreign students.
“Hawaii is special in that it has always been non-discriminatory in both its history and constitution,” Attorney General Doug Chin said.
“Twenty percent of the people are foreign-born, 100,000 are non-citizens and 20% of the labour force is foreign-born.”
The move came after a federal judge in Honolulu said earlier that Hawaii could move forward with the lawsuit.
US District Judge Derrick Watson granted the state’s request to continue with the case and set a hearing for March 15 – the day before Mr Trump’s order is due to come into effect.
The US Department of Justice declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The state will argue at the March 15 hearing that the judge should impose a temporary restraining order preventing the ban from taking effect until the lawsuit has been resolved.
Hawaii’s complaint says it is suing to protect its residents, businesses and schools, as well as its “sovereignty against illegal actions of President Donald J Trump and the federal government”.
The order affects people from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya.
Imam Ismail Elshikh of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, a plaintiff in the state’s challenge, says the ban will prevent his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting.
Mr Trump’s executive order “inflicts a grave injury on Muslims in Hawaii, including Dr Elshikh, his family, and members of his mosque,” Hawaii’s complaint says.
A federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order halting the initial ban after Washington state and Minnesota sued. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the order.
Source: Independent
