Hawaii judge blocks Trump's revised travel ban

A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked Donald Trump's latest travel ban, just hours before the executive order was due to take effect.

US District Judge Derrick Watson said the president's approach of targeting entire nations was "fundamentally flawed".

Mr Trump described the ruling as an "unprecedented judicial overreach", and insisted: "We're going to win. We're going to keep our citizens safe."

The ban blocks new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily halts the US refugee program.

  • Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore

Hawaii, the first state to file a lawsuit challenging the revised ban, argued that the ban discriminates on the basis of nationality and would prevent Hawaii residents from receiving visits from relatives in the six mostly Muslim countries covered by the ban.

The judge issued his 43-page ruling less than two hours after hearing Hawaii's request for a temporary restraining order to stop the ban from being put into practice.

Speaking at a rally in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: "This is the opinion of many, (the ruling is) an unprecedented judicial overreach. This ruling makes us look weak.

"We're going to fight this terrible ruling. We're going to take our case as far as it needs to go including all the way up to the Supreme Court.

"We're going to win. We're going to keep our citizens safe."

ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore said the decision represents another legal blow for the White House.

More than half a dozen states are trying to stop the ban.

Federal courts in Maryland, Washington state and Hawaii heard arguments on Wednesday about whether it should be put into practice.

A federal judge in Seattle said after a hearing that he will issue a written order about whether to block President Donald Trump's revised travel ban but didn't say when he would make his decision.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said: "Fantastic news.It's very exciting.

"At this point it's a team effort — multiple lawsuits and multiple states."