A federal judge in Washington state whose order blocked President Donald Trump’s first so-called "travel ban" last month on Thursday refused to apply that hold to a second, revised order. The second order remains blocked by a different judge's ruling.
U.S. District Court Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled that the second order temporarily restricting entry to the United States from some predominantly Muslim nations was different enough from the initial order that his injunction shouldn't carry over.
Trump's second travel order had already been blocked nationwide by a federal judge in Hawaii, who found on Wednesday that a reasonable person "would conclude that the Executive Order was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion" in ruling Hawaii was likely to succeed on the merits.
Critics have said the executive orders amount to a "Muslim ban," something Trump has denied. The president has said it is necessary to protect Americans from terrorism.
Robart issued a restraining order on Feb. 3 that blocked implementation of Trump’s initial Jan. 27 order. Trump on Twitter called Robarta "so-called judge" after that ruling. An appeals court refused to reinstate the order.
The new revised executive order narrowed the affected countries from seven to six, dropped language about favoring religious minorities from those nations, exempted lawful permanent residents and dropped the indefinite suspension in admitting refugees from Syria, among other changes.
Robart noted that the state of Washington and other states have also asked him to issue a restraining order over the new ban, and said he would rule on that request at a later time.
In addition to Hawaii’s ruling that put the new order on hold, a federal judge in Maryland Thursday morning also blocked it in a narrower ruling. Trump's executive order had been scheduled to take effect Thursday.
