Here's what's happening:
- President Trump's revised order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries for three months and halting the refugee resettlement program for four months was to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday.
- Trump's original travel ban — which went into effect immediately after he signed it on Jan. 27 — caused widespread chaos at airports across the country and confusion about who, exactly, was not permitted to enter the US. That order, allegedly to protect the country from terrorists, was subsequently blocked by federal judges.
- The new order was to cover people traveling from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen and all refugees. For a full breakdown of the differences between the original and new order, read this.
- However, on Wednesday evening, a federal judge in Hawaii blocked the revised order from taking effect, essentially maintaining the status quo. A federal judge in Maryland also blocked part of the order early on Thursday.
- Trump lashed out at the court after the decision, calling it "unprecedented judicial overreach" and suggesting the ruling was made "for political reasons."
- The Hawaii case included multiple legal challenges filed to stop the new ban. Read about the hearings that took place in courtrooms in Maryland, Washington State, and Hawaii on Wednesday here.
This map shows the countries of origin for the perpetrators or suspects involved in major terror attacks on US soil since 9/11.
Updates
A federal court in Maryland also blocked Section 2 of Trump's executive order in the early hours of Thursday morning
Gotta wake up early people! Section 2 of new EO now blocked by fed court in MD https://t.co/z8AbZS3m4F
Trump calls travel ban ruling "unprecedented judicial overreach" during Tennessee rally
President Trump just addressed a judge shutting down his travel and refugee ban (again). "This is ... an unpreceden⦠https://t.co/mBmv9dx2Xf
President Trump lashed out at the courts Wednesday after a federal judge in Hawaii blocked his revised travel ban just hours before it was set to take effect.
Trump referred to the decision issued by US District Judge Derrick Watson as "unprecedented judicial overreach" while speaking to a crowd during a rally in Nashville. He made the comment just hours after Watson issued a temporary restraining order that prevents the president's travel ban from being enforced.
The ban had been set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Trump said the ruling "makes us look weak," and asked people in the crowd if they thought "it was done by a judge for political reasons."
Trump says the ruling on his travel ban "makes us look weak"
Trump said the second travel ban was a "watered down" version of his earlier order, which was also blocked in the federal courts.
"I think we have to go back to the first one and go all the way, which is what I wanted to do in the first place," he added.
Trump wanted to push 1st EO "I think we have to go back to the first one & go all the way, which is what I wanted t⦠https://t.co/i6AerLf6wS
Trump went on to say that the "danger is clear, law is clear, the need for my executive order is clear."
"I was elected to change our broken and dangerous system and thinking in government that has weakened and endangered our country and left our people defenseless," he said.
President Trump: "Thinking in government ... has weakened and endangered our country and left our people defenseles⦠https://t.co/UrgnYKbEDu
— Jim Dalrymple II
Trump's revised travel ban is blocked before it takes effect
WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked President Trump's second attempt at a refugee and travel executive order set to take effect after midnight.
Three federal judges heard staggered arguments across the country — from morning arguments in Maryland to morning arguments in Hawaii to mid-day arguments in Washington state.
The order came less than six hours until the new executive order is due to go into effect.
—Zoe Tillman, Michelle Broder Van Dyke, and Chris Geidner
Federal judges weigh whether to block Trump’s second refugee and travel order
GREENBELT, Md. – With President Trump's second attempt at a refugee and travel executive order set to take effect after midnight, a federal judge in Maryland heard arguments on Wednesday morning on challengers' efforts to stop that from happening. Hours later, another federal judge across the country heard arguments on Hawaii's request to halt enforcement.
The executive order, which would temporarily suspend immigration from six countries as well as the US refugee program, will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Thursday. Challengers have gone to court in the week and a half since Trump signed the order on March 6 to try to block it.
US District Judge Theodore Chuang didn't rule from the bench after hearing the arguments in Maryland. He said he would try to issue an order later in the day, but wouldn't guarantee it. Chuang didn't signal which way he would rule, but did ask both sides to share their preferences for what he should do if he decided to block at least certain parts of the executive order.
The second hearing, before US District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii, took place about five hours after the first ended. He also did not rule from the bench — but promised an order in the case before midnight ET.
Read more here.
—Zoe Tillman, Michelle Broder Van Dyke, and Chris Geidner
Trump administration defends new travel order in court
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday evening, the Trump administration's lawyers argued to the federal judge who previously halted enforcement of the original refugee and travel ban that the new executive order, signed by President Trump on March 6, should not be subject to the prior injunction.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has argued that the Feb. 3 injunction against the original executive order should apply to the two provisions from the original ban that were reinstated, albeit with some changes, in the new executive order, which is due to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Thursday.
Specifically, Washington's lawyers argue the subsections of the new executive order announcing the 90-day halt to travel from a number of majority-Muslim nations and the 120-day halt to the refugee program are virtually the same as those provisions enjoined in the original order.
Read more here.
—Chris Geidner