Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferugson hailed Hawaii ruling to halt US President Donald Trump's new travel ban just hours before it was set to take effect. District Judge Derrick Watson on Wednesday (15 March) froze the executive order that temporarily bars new visas from being issued to travellers from six Muslim-majority countries and suspends the admission of new refugees. Attorneys for Hawaii claimed the new travel ban, like its predecessor, was in direct violation of the First Amendment.