A US federal appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries violates the American Constitution by discriminating on the basis of religion, another legal setback for the policy.
In an extraordinary ruling on Thursday, the 4th Circuit US Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, said Thursday the Republican president’s own words demonstrated that bias against Muslims was the basis of the policy.
It was the second time a federal appeals court ruled against Trump’s latest travel ban.
“The government’s proffered rationale for the proclamation lies at odds with the statements of the president himself,” Chief Justice Roger Gregory wrote.
“Plaintiffs here do not just plausibly allege with particularity that the proclamation’s purpose is driven by anti-Muslim bias, they offer undisputed evidence of such bias: the words of the president,” he wrote.
The court…