Trump: I'm launching an appeal against suspension of revised travel ban

The Trump administration on Friday appealed a Maryland court's block of its revised travel ban, aiming to reinstate a temporary halt to immigrants and visitor arrivals from six majority Muslim countries.

The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal with the district court in Greenbelt, Maryland, two days after that court and one in Hawaii dealt a new blow to the White House's travel ban, both ruling that it discriminated against Muslims.

The case now goes to a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia. The Republican president has said the policy is critical for national security.

President Donald Trump said the freeze was an example of "unprecedented judicial overreach," and he vowed to fight the "flawed" ruling all the way to the Supreme Court if required.

In Hawaii, US District Judge Derrick Watson on Wednesday placed an emergency freeze on Trump's executive order, which aimed to temporarily bar entry to the US of most refugees and travellers from six Muslim-majority countries.

Watson said the state of Hawaii showed a strong likelihood of success in its claim that the order violates the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution, which prevents religious discrimination. Critics of the ban argue it is discriminatory against Muslims.

Trump's first effort, in January, banned travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries and all refugees, but it was halted by a court in Washington state on the grounds that it violated the constitution's prohibition of religious discrimination.

That block was upheld on appeal, and the administration said it would revise the ban to better adhere to the law. 

The new ban has run into similar problems.

It aims to close US borders to nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days, and all refugees for at least 120 days. Iraq was on the original ban but was removed in the revision.

The White House said the six countries were targeted because their screening and information capabilities could not meet US security requirements.

While the ban does not mention Muslims, the courts have accepted arguments that Trump's statements while he was running for president last year that he would open his White House term with a ban on Muslim arrivals effectively defined his approach.