The US federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration’s request to reinstate a travel ban blocked by a federal judge on Friday.<\/p>\n
The late night ruling means the travel ban will remain suspended until the full case has been heard.<\/p>\n
The court gave the White House and the states challenging it a deadline of Monday to present more arguments.<\/p>\n
Two states argued that the travel ban, affecting people from seven mainly-Muslim countries, was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
In its appeal, the Justice Department said Judge James Robart had overreached by “second guessing” the president on a national security matter.<\/p>\n
It also argued that only the president could decide who can enter or stay in the US.<\/p>\n
In Friday’s case, the Justice Department had argued that states did not have the authority to challenge a presidential executive order.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for the states of Washington and Minnesota had argued that the ban was unconstitutional because it denied people with valid entry documents the right to travel without due process.<\/p>\n
It also violated freedom of religion rights by appearing to target Muslims, they said.<\/p>\n
Iraq, one of the countries named in the ban, has praised the revocation of the travel ban as a “move in the right direction”, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
Iran has also responded to Judge Robart’s ruling by saying it would allow a US wrestling team to compete in a World Cup event it is hosting later this month.<\/p>\n
The US wrestlers were initially denied visas after Iran said it would ban Americans in retaliation for Mr Trump’s order.<\/p>\n
However Mr Trump has called Judge Robart’s ruling “ridiculous”, described him as a “so-called judge” and vowed to restore the ban.<\/p>\n
Judge Robart has served on the federal bench since 2004 after nomination by President George W Bush.<\/p>\n
Friday’s ruling has also seen visa holders from the affected nations scramble to get flights to the US, fearing they have a slim window to enter.<\/p>\n
The State Department has been reversing visa cancellations and US homeland security employees have been told by their department to comply with the ruling.<\/p>\n
Customs officials told airlines that they could resume boarding banned travellers. Qatar Airways, Air France, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa and others said they would do so.<\/p>\n
The ban caused confusion at US and foreign airports when it came into force.<\/p>\n
It envisages a 90-day visa suspension for anyone arriving from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.<\/p>\n
The directive also suspends the US Refugee Admissions Programme for 120 days, and places an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees.<\/p>\n
It has led to protests in US cities and around the world.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"