A federal judge in the US state of Maryland has temporarily blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s revised travel order, according to reports.
The verdict was announced by District Judge Theodore D. Chuang in federal court in Maryland early on Thursday, hours after a federal judge in Hawaii placed a nationwide block on Trump’s order.
Although the ban was already restrained nationwide by District Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii, the Maryland decision is another blow to Trump's executive order.
Chuang said Trump's revised travel ban was still meant to discriminate against Muslims.
“The history of public statements continues to provide a convincing case that the purpose of the Second Executive Order remains the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban,” he wrote.
He ruled he "should not, and will not, second-guess the conclusion that national security interests would be served by the travel ban."
“In this highly unique case,” Chuang wrote, “the record provides strong indications that the national security purpose is not the primary purpose for the travel ban.”
Watson of Hawaii ruled on Wednesday evening that the state of Hawaii, in its legal challenge to Trump's executive order, had established that the law could not be enforced.
The judge ruled, citing several comments made by Trump, that the travel ban is, despite the administration’s denials, a Muslim ban. His ruling applies nationwide.
Speaking at a rally in Nashville, Tennessee, Trump described the ruling as “terrible” and vowed to fight against it.
"We're going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court,” he said.
A day after Trump signed the new executive order on March 6, attorneys for Hawaii filed their proposed revision in federal court, along with a motion asking that it be allowed to proceed.
The revised travel ban changed and replaced the original, more sweeping executive order issued on January 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports and was challenged in more than two dozen lawsuits across the US.
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