Hawaii officially drops case against President Trump's travel ban

HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state voluntarily dropped its travel ban challenge against the Trump administration Monday.

Attorneys representing Hawaii had been fighting the president's travel bans in court since early 2017, and in June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the president.

Lt. Gov. Doug Chin, who led Hawaii's challenge against the travel ban when he served as attorney general, issued a statement soon after the Supreme Court decision saying, "I hurt today for Hawaii families and others who have experienced discrimination and scapegoating due to President Trump's bullying remarks and orders."

The Supreme Court allowed the policy to take full effect in December.

President Trump signed the initial ban in January 2017, claiming it would keep terrorists out of the country. The executive order blocked travel into the U.S. by people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. It also set up a 120-day ban on all refugees.

"Although we were disappointed by the United States Supreme Court's decision upholding President Trump's third travel ban, Hawaii's fight pushed the administration to walk back its efforts to exclude people from the country," state Attorney General Russell Suzuki said, in a statement.

"We continue to believe that the third travel ban is unlawful and unconstitutional, and today, we pass the baton to other litigants who have taken up the fight regarding the travel ban's flawed waiver process."

Cases concerning the travel ban's waiver process, for people living in countries included in the ban, were recently filed in two states.

The state paid $150,000 in attorneys' fees to defend the travel ban in court.

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