Muslim Ban 2.0 Blocked, Trump Blasts Judges for ‘Unprecedented Overreach’

Rasa - US President Donald Trump blasted a judge’s decision to block his revised travel ban just hours before it was due to take effect as “an unprecedented judicial overreach.”

News ID: 428190

Date: 16 March 2017 - 23:27

RNA - US District Court Judge Derrick K. Watson has put an emergency stop on the order which was due to come into effect on Thursday morning, Sun reported.

The ruling means that officials will not be able to stop people from the six predominantly Muslim countries on the list from travelling to America.

Trump slammed the ruling as he rallied supporters in Tennessee, however Watson said he believed Hawaii would be able to make the case that the revamped ban violates the section of the US Constitution that prohibits religious discrimination.

Hawaii was the first state to challenged the revised ban signed on March 6, which replaced Trump's original January 7 executive order barring the residents of seven Muslim countries from entering the States.

The first ban was halted by a district judge in Seattle.

Hawaii argued that the revised ban would prevent residents from receiving visits from relatives in the six countries covered by the order.

The state also said the ban would harm its tourism industry and the ability to recruit foreign students and workers.

In Maryland, attorneys told a federal judge that the measure still discriminates against Muslims.

Lawyers for the Justice Department argued that the ban was revised substantially to address legal concerns, including the removal of an exemption for religious minorities from the affected countries.

"It doesn't say anything about religion. It doesn't draw any religious distinctions," said Jeffrey Wall, attorney for the Justice Department.

Trump's original travel ban came into immediate effect just one week after he took office, causing confusion at airports and sparking mass demonstrations.

The six countries in the second ban are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Iraq was included in the Trump's first travel ban but was taken off the list in the revamped version.

847/940