USA appellate court again rules against Trump's travel ban

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling of a district judge in Hawaii who issued an injunction on US President Donald Trump's second executive order on immigration, also known as the travel ban, court documents revealed on Monday, Sputnik reported.

The ruling from a unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the president violated U.S. immigration law by discriminating against people based on their nationality and by failing to demonstrate that their entry into the country would hurt American interests.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision blocking the temporary ban on visitors from six Muslim-majority nations.

Monday's decision from the Ninth Circuit largely affirmed that ruling, reversing only the lower court's injunction against the administration conducting inter-agency reviews of its vetting procedures. The court said the revised order, which Mr. Trump described as "watered down" in a tweet last week, was still in violation of provisions that "prohibit nationality-based discrimination".

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Picture taken in January.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia last month found the 90-day ban unconstitutional, saying it was "steeped in animus and directed at a single religious group" rather than necessary for national security. The difference? Trump shifted the element of danger away from the countries included in his travel ban and instead focused on the danger the USA faces.

Waterbombing plane fighting huge wildfire crashes in central Portugal
Press reports suggest the fire plan had not been revised for four years and that lawmakers had not considered it a priority. Temperatures forecast to reach 109 degrees, gusting winds and bone-dry woodland were fueling the blazes, Vaz Pinto said.

President Trump unleashed a tweetstorm on Tuesday morning blasting the federal court that ruled against his travel ban and railing at the "Fake News Media" for publishing "phony stories". Justice Department lawyers made several adjustments from the first travel ban to address concerns raised by judges across the country.

Reacting to the decision, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, "We continue to be confident that the president's executive order to protect this country is fully lawful and ultimately will be upheld by the Supreme Court". The administration has appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.

The administration has said courts should not second guess the president's assertion that the ban was needed for national security reasons.

Another appeals court, another defeat for the Trump administration.

These papers, the letter said, would be a combined plea for enforcement power of the executive order, and a petition for review of the legality of the executive order itself. The Ninth Circuit Court ruled only that Trump had failed to fulfill requirements under immigration laws that govern when the president may stop entry of foreign nationals into the country.