Trump administration files appeal over blocked travel ban

The Trump administration has decided to fight a ruling by a federal court in Maryland, which earlier this week imposed a temporary restraining order against President Trump's revised travel ban. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang ruled the executive order violated the First Amendment, The Washington Post reports.

Chuang's restraining order is narrower than a similar ruling against the ban that was made this week in Hawaii. However, if the Justice Department were to appeal the Hawaii ruling, the case would be sent to the same San Francisco appeals court that shot down the first version of Trump's travel ban last month. Chuang's ruling targets a portion of Trump's order that prevents citizens of the six majority-Muslim countries from being able to be issued a visa. Both the Maryland decision and the Hawaii decision invoke statements made by Trump and his advisers during the campaign, saying they proved "President Trump's animus toward Muslims and intention to impose a ban on Muslims entering the United States."

The ban was slated to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, but the federal judges' rulings blocked it nationwide.

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"We're going to fight this terrible ruling," Trump vowed in Nashville, shortly after the Hawaii judge reported his decision. "We're going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court."