Hawaii is to challenge Donald Trump's revised travel ban in court, according to a law firm.

The order, which comes into effect on 16 March, temporarily suspends immigration into the United States from six predominantly-Muslim countries.

Citizens from Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Somalia and Sudan will be subjected to a 90-day ban on travel to the US.

Iraq was previously listed among those nations, but a senior Department of Homeland Security official said the country was removed after the Iraqi government assured the Trump administration that they would share more information with the United States.

Here we go. Proud to stand w/State of Hawaii challenging Pres.Trump's "new" Executive Order issued yesterday. 1/2 https://t.co/GrPvlPGshL — Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) March 8, 2017

The state of Hawaii has said in a court motion that it will seek a temporary restraining order against the ban.


Speaking in a statement on Monday, Hawaii's Attorney General Doug Chin said: "This new executive order is nothing more than Muslim Ban 2.0.

"Under the pretence of national security, it still targets immigrants and refugees. It leaves the door open for even further restrictions."

Court documents show that both sides have asked for a hearing on 15 March, a day before the new ban is due to come into effect.

Hawaii had filed a lawsuit against Mr Trump's initial ban but that was put on hold while a nationwide injunction remained in place.

President Trump signs new order banning travel from six mainly Muslim countries

In a statement, the Justice Department said: "We are confident that the president's actions are lawful to protect the national security of our country."

Neal Katyal, one of the lead attorneys for Hawaii, told CNN: "To be sure, the new executive order covers fewer people than the old one."

Image: Neal Katyal is the lead attorney for Hawaii and has had a long career arguing high-profile cases

But he added that the ban still "suffers from the same constitutional and statutory defects".

He told MSNBC: "What the state of Hawaii is doing here is standing up for bedrock American values.

"This isn't about politics, this is really just about what the laws fundamentally require."

Mr Katyal is a former acting solicitor general under President Obama and his firm is giving Hawaii a 50% discount for its representation.

According to the profile on his firm's website, among Mr Katyal's high-profile cases was a victory in Hamdan v Rumsfeld, which challenged the policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay.

He also successfully defended former Attorney General John Ashcroft against claims that he had abused civil liberties during the war on terror.