Washington: In a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump, a US Appeals Court refused on Thursday to reinstate his temporary travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority nations, delivering another blow to the White House in a legal battle likely headed to the Supreme Court.
The decision, written by Chief Judge Roger Gregory, described Trump's executive order in forceful terms, saying it uses "vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination."
More World News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:06
Legal showdown over Trump's travel ban
Legal showdown over Trump's travel ban
A federal appeals court in Seattle hears arguments Monday over President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban.
Up Next
The search begins after building collapses in Kenya
- Video duration
- 00:33
- Video duration
- 00:33
The search begins after building ...
The search begins after building collapses in Kenya
Rescue services search the rubble for roughly 15 people missing after the collapse of Kenyan building.
Up Next
French riderless motorbike mystery solved
- Video duration
- 01:10
- Video duration
- 01:10
French riderless motorbike mystery solved
French riderless motorbike mystery solved
Was a ghost riding a motorbike down a French highway? No, and it's not a rare thing for motorcycles to ride off on their own.
Up Next
Parcel bomb explodes at South Korean university
- Video duration
- 00:52
- Video duration
- 00:52
Parcel bomb explodes at South Korean ...
Parcel bomb explodes at South Korean university
Security is being tightened after a parcel bomb exploded at South Korea's Yonsei University in central Seoul.
Up Next
IV drips and scented oxygen at Goop
- Video duration
- 01:45
- Video duration
- 01:45
IV drips and scented oxygen at Goop
IV drips and scented oxygen at Goop
Gwyneth Paltrow's costly inaugural In Goop Health summit featured IV drips, discussions of leech facials, scented oxygen, aura photographs and crystal healing.
Up Next
US basketballer Rodman expected in North Korea
- Video duration
- 00:48
- Video duration
- 00:48
US basketballer Rodman expected in North ...
US basketballer Rodman expected in North Korea
Former US basketball star Dennis Rodman - one of the only Americans to have ever met Kim Jong-un - is expected to arrive in North Korea, media reports say.
Up Next
Jury now deliberating in Cosby sex assault trial
- Video duration
- 00:55
- Video duration
- 00:55
Jury now deliberating in Cosby sex ...
Jury now deliberating in Cosby sex assault trial
Jurors in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial are now deliberating whether he drugged and molested a woman more than a decade ago.
Up Next
Man clings to skyscraper 100m above street
- Video duration
- 01:41
- Video duration
- 01:41
Man clings to skyscraper 100m above street
Man clings to skyscraper 100m above street
Bystanders watch as 55-year-old French 'spiderman' Alain Robert climbs the Melia Barcelona Sky Hotel without a harness.
Legal showdown over Trump's travel ban
A federal appeals court in Seattle hears arguments Monday over President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban.
In a 10-3 ruling, a majority of judges on the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said that the challengers to the ban -who included refugee groups and individuals - were likely to succeed on their claim that Trump's order violates the US Constitution's bar on favouring one religion over another.
Citing statements by Trump during his presidential election campaign calling for a "Muslim ban," Gregory wrote that a reasonable observer would likely conclude that the order's "primary purpose is to exclude persons from the United States on the basis of their religious beliefs."
Related Content
The appeals court was reviewing a March ruling by Maryland-based federal judge Theodore Chuang that blocked part of Trump's March 6 executive order barring people from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days while the government put in place stricter visa screening.
A similar ruling against Trump's policy from a Hawaii-based federal judge is still in place and the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals court is reviewing that decision.
The Trump administration has argued that the temporary travel ban is a national security measure aimed at preventing Islamist militant attacks.
The March ban was Trump's second effort to implement travel restrictions through an executive order. The first, issued on Jan. 27 just a week after the Republican president took office, led to chaos and protests at airports before it was blocked by courts.
The second order was intended to overcome the legal issues posed by the original ban, but it was blocked by judges before it could go into effect on March 16.
The case is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, which would make the final decision.
Reuters