UPDATE | Seattle judge grants another nationwide delay to travel ban; Virginia joins suit

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

U.S. District Judge James Robart granted a temporary restraining order today at the request of Washington state and Minnesota that’s effective nationwide.

Lawyers for the U.S. government argued the states don’t have standing to challenge the order and said Congress gave the president authority to make decisions on national security and admitting immigrants.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson had sued, saying the order is causing significant harm to residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the suit this week.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, a judge is allowing that state to join the lawsuit challenging the travel ban.

Today’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema greatly expands the scope of the lawsuit, which was initially focused only on legal permanent residents, commonly called green-card holders. Brinkema indicated a willingness to consider cases involving anyone who had been issued a visa and had it revoked.

A government lawyer in the case said more than 100,000 people have had visas revoked since the ban went into effect, but the State Department later said the number was close to 60,000. The higher figure included visas that were actually exempted by the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

The TRO effectively negates a refusal earlier today, by a federal judge in Bostonto extend the temporary injunction against the travel ban.

U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton late today declined to renew the order prohibiting the detention or removal of persons as part of Trump’s executive order on refugees and immigrants.

That meant the initial seven-day, temporary injunction granted Jan. 29 would expire as scheduled Sunday.

That order came after the American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of two University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth professors detained at Logan Airport as they returned from an academic conference.

The professors are Iranian Muslims and lawful permanent U.S. residents. They were eventually allowed to re-enter.

The ACLU said it was deeply disappointed in that decision. Other plaintiffs included international aid group Oxfam America and several noncitizens living in the U.S. legally.