A federal appeals court said on Thursday that President Trump's latest travel ban targeting nationals of six Muslim-majority countries unconstitutionally discriminates against Muslims.
The ruling, however, has mostly symbolic impact because of a case before the Supreme Court.
The 9-4 vote Thursday by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals makes it the second federal appellate court to declare the ban illegal since it went into effect in September.
Both rulings have no current effect, as the U.S. Supreme Court has said that the ban can go into place while it is challenged in the nation's highest court. Supreme Court justices are expected to hear arguments concerning the ban in April, and rule on its constitutionality in June.
"Plaintiffs offer undisputed evidence that the President of the United States has openly and often expressed his desire to ban those of Islamic faith from entering the United States," 4th Circuit Chief Judge Roger Gregory wrote in a majority opinion. "The Proclamation is thus not only a likely Establishment Clause violation, but also strikes at the basic notion that the government may not act based on 'religious animosity.'"
The travel ban is the third version that the Trump administration has put into place since January 2017. It prevents travel to the U.S. by most nationals of Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. It also blocks travel by North Koreans and Venezuelans with certain government ties.
