(CNN) A federal appeals court ruled against the latest version of President Donald Trump's travel ban on Thursday, holding that it "continues to exhibit a primarily religious anti-Muslim objective."

The 9-4 ruling from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals comes after the Supreme Court agreed to take up a separate challenge to the President's proclamation, issued last September.

Because that case is pending before the justices, the latest ruling from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals will not change the current status quo. For now, the Supreme Court has allowed the third iteration of the travel ban to go fully into effect pending the resolution of the issue by late June

In Thursday's opinion, the appeals court held that immigrant rights groups represented by the ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center "will likely succeed on the merits of their Establishment Clause claim."

"President Trump's third illegal attempt to denigrate and discriminate against Muslims through an immigration ban has failed in court yet again," said the ACLU's deputy legal director Cecillia Wang. "The Constitution prohibits government actions hostile to religion."

Read More