For the second time in two months a federal judge has blocked a travel ban announced by US President Donald Trump that would bar citizens from select nations.
Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii ruled on Thursday that Trump's new executive order amounted to a religious test on travelers entering the US and therefore ruled it illegal.
Trump's initial travel ban was blocked by a federal judge in Seattle last month. It had barred Syrian refugees and citizens from seven nations even if they had legal visas or were residents in the US.
Earlier this month the Trump administration issued a new ban that removed Iraq from the list and allowed in legal visa holders and residents in the hope that it would get through the courts.  The new order also removed a section favorable to citizens from the six nations: Syria, Iran, Somalia, Libya, Yemen and Sudan. But Judge Watson did not accept the argument of government lawyers that the ban was not based on the religion of the travelers. 
Trump said a temporary ban was needed because "each of these countries is a state sponsor of terrorism, has been significantly compromised by terrorist organizations, or contains active conflict zones," he wrote in the executive order, which he signed on March 6.
The judge's decision means that no special rules apply to visitors from those six countries and they can travel freely to the US if the have a visa. The initial ban was met with chaotic scenes at American airports, as families were separated, people were detained for long hours, and many were sent back. Meanwhile huge protests broke out in the public waiting areas at the airports, protesting Trump's attempted ban. 

Source: QNA