SAN FRANCISCO _ A federal appeals court refused Monday to lift a hold on President Donald Trump's revised travel order barring new visas for nationals from six predominantly Muslim countries.
The unanimous, unsigned ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was the latest in a string of legal defeats the administration has suffered. The administration has said it will take its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"In suspending the entry of more than 180 million nationals from six countries, suspending the entry of all refugees, and reducing the cap on the admission of refugees from 110,000 to 50,000 for the 2017 fiscal year, the President did not meet the essential precondition to exercising his delegated authority: The President must make a sufficient finding that the entry of these classes of people would be "detrimental to the interests of the United States."
The 9th Circuit, which decides federal cases for nine Western states, also said that Trump's order violated a provision of immigration law that bars nationality-based discrimination.
The three judges _ Michael Daly Hawkins, Ronald M. Gould and Richard Paez _ were appointed by former President Bill Clinton.
Their decision leaves in place a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Hawaii in response to a lawsuit by the state and a Honolulu-based imam.
Trump's order, a revised version of one he issued during his first week in office, would temporarily bar immigrants and travelers from Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Libya and suspend the entry of refugees.
Hawaii-based U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson issued the preliminary injunction after concluding that anti-Muslim sentiment motivated it.
The state of Hawaii and Dr. Ismail Elshikh, the imam of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, argued that Trump's order stigmatized Muslims and would hurt tourism and the recruitment of university students and faculty.
Lawyers for the Trump administration countered that presidents have wide authority over matters of immigration and national security and should not be second-guessed by unelected federal judges.
They said Trump issued his order to give the administration time to study the adequacy of security measures.
A different 9th Circuit panel rejected a broader travel ban in February, prompting the administration to revise it.
Most of the groups that weighed in on the case urged the court to retain the order.
They included the American Bar Association, former national security officials, technology companies, religious organizations, 165 members of Congress, refugee assistance groups, law professors and an organization that arranges for ill children in Iran to receive medical care in the U.S.
Attorneys general from 16 states also sided with Hawaii.
A coalition of nonprofit gun groups, advocates of "English first," border control foundations and 14 states sided with Trump.
