16 Mar 2017

Trump attacks ruling against travel ban

2:29 pm on 16 March 2017

US President Donald Trump has slammed a court ruling blocking his revised travel ban.

US President Donald Trump attends a meeting about healthcare in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on March 13, 2017.

Donald Trump's latest travel ban has been blocked. Photo: AFP

A federal judge in Hawaii has granted a temporary restraining order on the reworked ban, hours before it was due to go into effect.

The executive order aimed to temporarily bar entry to most refugees as well as travellers from six Muslim-majority countries.

The Trump administration rewrote the travel ban order after federal courts blocked the first, more sweeping, executive order signed in January.

The changes removed Iraq from the list of banned countries, exempted those with green cards and visas, and removed a provision that was criticised as prioritising certain religious minorities.

Despite the alterations, US District Court Judge Derrick Watson concluded the new executive order still failed to pass legal muster, CNN reported.

Speaking to a crowd in Nashville, Mr Trump said the decision was part of an unprecedented judicial over-reach.

"We're going to fight this terrible ruling, we're going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court.

"We're going to win, we are going to keep our citizens safe."

Mr Trump said the ruling made his administration look weak.

Ruling allows continued travel

Judge Watson said the state of Hawaii's claims, that the order violates the establishment clause of the US Constitution which prevents religious discrimination, showed a strong likelihood of success. Critics of the ban argued it was discriminatory against Muslims.

The Hawaii ruling means that travellers from the six countries and refugees will be able to travel to the United States.

The case is one of several moving through US courts, brought by states' attorneys-general and immigrant advocacy groups.

A judge in Maryland said he also might issue an emergency order in advance of the ban.

Mr Trump has said the policy is critical for national security.