Federal judge, this time in Maryland, blocks part of Trump’s revised travel ban order

A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday temporarily blocked part of President Trump’s revised executive order on immigration and refugees, a day after a federal judge in Hawaii issued a temporary restraining order halting enforcement of the entire order.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang ruled that the proposed 90-day ban on travel to the United States by nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen was a likely violation of the Constitution and ordered a temporarily halt of enforcement of that portion of the order. He declined to block other parts of the order, including a 120-day pause of all refugee resettlement and a reduction in the number of refugees allowed in the United States this year.

Despite some changes from the original order, “the history of public statements continues to provide a convincing case that the purpose of the Second Executive Order remains the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban,” Judge Chuang wrote in his 43-page order issued Thursday morning.

“When President Trump discussed his planned Muslim ban, he described not the preference religious minorities, but the plan to ban the entry of nationals from certain dangerous countries as a means to carry out the Muslim ban,” Judge Chuang wrote. “These statements thus continue to explain the religious purpose behind the travel ban in the Second Executive Order.”

The order came hours after a federal judge in Hawaii on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the entire revised order from taking effect.

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