2 Judges Block New Version of Trump Travel Ban Even Though It Includes Non-Muslims

A federal judge in Hawaii blocked President Trump's latest travel ban just hours before it was scheduled to take effect. And a judge in Maryland did the same on Wednesday morning.

US District Judge Derrick Watson, an appointee of President Obama, issued an order Tuesday temporarily blocking the travel policy that was set to start Wednesday, arguing the ban discriminates based on nationality.

"It suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor," Watson said.

The travel restrictions applied to citizens from countries with terrorist enclaves or support, including Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

Trump's ban also applied to non-Muslim countries like North Korea and Venezuela whose governments are hostile to the US.

The government of Hawaii had argued that the latest travel ban "promises to exclude Muslims from the United States." Numerous Islamic countries were not included in the ban.

The Trump administration says the countries were chosen based on their security threat to the US and their willingness to share information with the US government.

The Justice Department said it would appeal the Hawaii judge's ruling.