Trump administration: Travel ban is religiously neutral
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump's revised travel ban does not discriminate on the basis of religion and was wrongly second-guessed by a federal judge in Hawaii, the Trump administration said in court documents filed with an appeals court on Friday that seek to reinstate the ban.
Watson said there was "significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus" behind the ban, which prevents new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and suspends the nation's refugee program.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in court documents filed with the 9th Circuit on Friday that Watson second-guessed Trump's judgment that the order was needed to protect the nation and wrongly relied on statements Trump made on the campaign trail to conclude the travel ban was motivated by religious discrimination.