--- title: Travel Ban: Immigrant, Refugee Advocates Cheer Hawaii Ruling description: Immigrant and refugee advocates are cheering a Hawaii judge's decision to block President Trump's revised travel ban. canonical: https://time.com/4703207/travel-ban-hawaii-court-ruling-advocates/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-16T02:20:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:20:38.812Z article:section: Politics og:title: Immigrant, Refugee Advocates Cheer Court Ruling on Travel Ban og:description: “He should just keep talking because he is making our arguments for us." og:url: https://time.com/4703207/travel-ban-hawaii-court-ruling-advocates/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91b9b49283681dce/6988be984dd2156379efe24e/trumps-travel-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-COURT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Immigrant, Refugee Advocates Cheer Court Ruling on Travel Ban twitter:description: “He should just keep talking because he is making our arguments for us." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91b9b49283681dce/6988be984dd2156379efe24e/trumps-travel-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Immigrant, Refugee Advocates Cheer Hawaii Court Ruling on Travel Ban > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b08ea1eb-9cd6-41d0-ba2b-1ed31d9400ae&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Judge in Hawaii Just Blocked President Trump's New Travel Ban Nationwide [Watch (HLS stream): A Judge in Hawaii Just Blocked President Trump's New Travel Ban Nationwide](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vovoNlMT.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2017-03-16. Hours before it was to take effect, President Donald Trump's revised travel ban was put on hold Wednesday by a federal judge in Hawaii after hearing arguments that the executive order discriminates on the basis of nationality._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 16, 2017 2:20 AM UTC Hours before it was to take effect, President Donald Trump's revised travel ban was put on hold Wednesday by a federal judge in Hawaii after hearing arguments that the executive order discriminates on the basis of nationality. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 16, 2017 2:20 AM UTC Immigrant and refugee advocates are cheering a [Hawaii judge’s decision to block ](http://time.com/4703177/donald-trump-travel-ban-immigration-hawaii-judge/?xid=homepage)President Trump’s revised ban on travel and refugee resettlement from going into effect. Becca Heller of the International Refugee Assistance Project, who argued against the order in a [Maryland court on Wednesday](http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/maryland-court-hears-first-of-several-challenges-to-travel-ban/), said the [ruling](http://time.com/4703188/donald-trump-travel-ban-blocked-read-court-decision/) is especially good news for hundreds of refugees. On a conference call hosted Wednesday night, Heller said there are at least 250 refugee families that are in the process of trying to get into the U.S. The judge’s ruling also restores the 110,000 refugee cap set by President Obama, which means some 60,000 more refugees could be resettled into the U.S. if the judge’s ruling holds. President Trump had ordered that that number be knocked down to 50,000. “Yes, it will be some work on the part of civil society to build back up, but not nearly as much work as it would have been to knock everything down,” she said. Advocates said the ruling impacts people across all sectors–from students hoping to return home to doctors starting residency programs and family seeking to reunite with spouses, siblings, and children. “At the crux of this so much of the fight has been about the court cases,” said Marielena Hincapié of the National Immigration Law Center. “But really this is about human beings who are risking their lives to come to the United States.” After the previous battle over the travel ban, the White House spent weeks crafting a[ new version to address the issues](http://time.com/4691757/travel-ban-white-house-revised/) raised in federal court. There was even a [10-day delay](http://time.com/4692165/revised-travel-ban-advance-notice/) in its implementation, which officials said was meant to ensure a smooth roll-out. But Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii found that the revised order would have the same effect as the old one, and cited Trump administration officials who said so to justify his conclusion. During a rally on Wednesday night, Trump [decried the ruling](http://time.com/4703198/travel-ban-donald-trump-judicial-overreach/?xid=homepage) and defended a previous version of the executive order that was also stalled by the courts. “A judge has just blocked our executive order on travels and refugees coming in to our country from certain countries,” he said. “The order he blocked was a watered down version of the first order that was also blocked by another judge that should have never been blocked to start with. This new order was tailored to the dictates of the 9th circuits, in my opinion, flawed ruling.” Trump went on to argue that the previous order should have been kept in place, saying he reluctantly ceded requests to revise it. “He should just keep talking because he is making our arguments for us,” Hincapié said in response to Trump’s statements on Wednesday night’s call. The saga of the refugee and travel executive order is far from over. Trump said Wednesday he plans to appeal, vowing to take it to the Supreme Court if necessary. ## Transcript A judge has just blocked our executive order on travel and refugees coming into our country from certain countries. [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] The order he blocked was a. [ MUSIC ] So clearly to Judge Watson, we heard it in his questions this morning, but I think we could see it in black and white in his order. He was very focused He was very focused on s lot of what had been said before hand to say that it couldn't just be cured by simply inserting a lot of neutral language and then asking everybody to pretend that it didn't happen. No long! No again! We are going to fight this terrible ruling. We are going to take our care as far as it needs to go including all the way up to the Supreme Court. [ APPLAUSE ] We are going to win, we are going to keep our citizens safe And regardless, we're going to keep our citizens safe. Believe me. 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