State sues president over controversial travel ban - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

State Attorney General Doug Chin announced Friday that the state would sue President Trump over his controversial travel ban.

Several other states have also filed federal lawsuits over the executive order.

Chin told reporters Friday that the ban, which blocks immigrants and refugees from traveling to the United States from seven majority-Muslim nations, is unconstitutional and "affects our state in a unique way."

The "illegal order," he said, will also have a "chilling effect on tourism."

"The president must follow the law and follow the Constitution," Chin said. "The executive order that President Trump issued ... keeps Hawaii families apart, blocks Hawaii residents from traveling. It harms Hawaii's tourism industry."

Chin added that while the order only affects a small number of people in Hawaii, it is still producing a harm -- and could have more significant impacts in the future. 

"We're one tweet away from President Trump announcing that one of these Asian countries is now an enemy. We have so little ability to know ... what kind of impact that will upon our foreign-born visitors," he said.

The executive order has spurred widespread protest, and a host of lawsuits. The Trump administration says the ban is aimed at keeping Americans safe.

On Friday, the State Department said the order resulted in less than 60,000 visas being revoked. That number differed from a figure shared by a Justice Department lawyer, who told a judge the number was more than 100,000.

The order, signed last week, blocks travel to visa holders and refugees from seven nations — Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

This story will be updated.

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