Two American judges have halted Donald Trump's revised travel ban on citizens of six Muslim- majority nations, stating that his own comments suggested religious bias, in a blow to the US President who has vowed to take the legal battle to the Supreme Court.
The order by the federal judge in Hawaii late last night came after the state sued the Trump administration over the revised travel ban issued last week. Hawaii argued that the revised travel ban was still unconstitutional.
"The illogic of the government's contentions is palpable. The notion that one can demonstrate animus toward any group of people only by targeting all of them at once is fundamentally flawed," judge Derrick Watson wrote in his 43-page court order.
"It is undisputed, using the primary source upon which the government itself relies, that these six countries have overwhelmingly Muslim populations that range from 90.7 per cent to 99.8 per cent. It would therefore be no paradigmatic leap to conclude that targeting these countries likewise targets Islam. Certainly, it would be inappropriate to conclude, as the government does, that it does not," Watson said.
"Any reasonable, objective observer would conclude, as does the Court for purposes of the instant Motion for TRO (Temporary Restraining Order), that the stated secular purpose of the Executive Order is, at the very least, 'secondary to a religious objective' of temporarily suspending the entry of Muslims," the judge said.
A second federal judge in Maryland issued a separate block on just the core provision concerning travel from the Muslim world, ruling it would cause "irreparable harm" were it to go into effect.
US District Judge Theodore Chuang issued a partial injunction on a separate complaint filed by advocacy groups claiming that the amended order discriminates against Muslims.
"While the travel ban bears no resemblance to any response to a national security risk in recent history, it bears a clear resemblance to the precise action that President Trump described as effectuating his Muslim ban," he said.
The revised travel ban on people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 day was scheduled to come into effect midnight of March 15.
Trump, commenting on the ruling by the Hawaii judge, said it "makes us look weak" and vowed to challenge the order in the Supreme Court.
"We're going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court," Trump said as his supporters booed the Hawaii federal judge.
Appearing in a combative mood, Trump alleged that the decision of the Ninth Circuit court was an example of "unprecedented judicial overreach".
In an echo of his attack on the judge who struck down the first travel ban, Trump sarcastically suggested that Watson might have acted for political reasons.
"You don't think this was done by a judge for political reasons?" he asked.
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