U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump's second travel ban clearly violated constitutional protections of religion.
"A reasonable, objective observer — enlightened by the specific historical context, contemporaneous public statements, and specific sequence of events leading to its issuance — would conclude that the Executive Order was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion in spite of its stated, religiously-neutral purpose," Watson wrote in the order.
The president's travel ban sought to block citizens of six nations -- Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Syria for 90 days, and all refugees for 120 days. This ban, signed March 6, was the second attempt to limit travel from the majority Muslim nations, and removed Iraq from the list of nations included in the original list from the January order.
The travel order initially had an effective date of 12:01 am ET Thursday. A number of lawsuits filed by states, immigration advocacy groups and private citizens have been filed in an attempt to circumvent the enactment of the ban. Judges in three states -- Hawaii, Maryland and Washington heard arguments on the challenges, and the court in Hawaii was the first to issue a ruling, which applies nationwide.
You can read the full text of the new order below.
