Trump immigration order blocked by US judge in Virginia

[WASHINGTON] President Donald Trump's order barring people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from the US for 90 days suffered another blow after a Virginia judge ruled it likely violates the rights of state residents.

The ruling that the Trump administration can't enforce the ban for now came Monday, days after after a San Francisco appeals court made a similar decision in a separate suit by Washington and Minnesota.

The ruling by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria moves the overall issue a step closer to possible Supreme Court review.

It's unclear whether the ruling will matter, though. Mr Trump said on Friday that he may issue an entirely new immigration order to revise the ban to address issues raised in the cases.

Virginia's win bolsters the delay ordered in the Washington case and multiplies hurdles for Trump in fulfilling a campaign promise to shut US borders to countries with ties to terrorism. Legal challenges to the ban have also been filed in Brooklyn, New York and Washington, DC, and Maryland.

Issued without warning Jan 27, Mr Trump's decree threw US airports into turmoil as people bound for the US learned only upon landing that they couldn't leave arrival terminals. Many were turned back as spontaneous protests erupted outside customs areas in New York, Washington, Chicago, Dallas and elsewhere.

It was the most consequential act of an administration that wants to minimise America's engagement with the world, roiling global politics in the process.

BLOOMBERG