The administration is appealing a Maryland federal judge's ruling blocking a key part of Presiden Donald Trump's revised travel ban executive order. | Getty Trump administration appeals travel ban ruling

The Trump administration is appealing a Maryland federal judge's ruling blocking a key part of President Donald Trump's revised travel ban executive order.

Justice Department attorneys filed a notice Friday afternoon appealing U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang's temporary restraining order against Trump's directive cutting off visas for citizens of six Muslim-majority countries.


"The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the Maryland federal district court’s ruling, and looks forward to defending the President’s Executive Order seeking to protect our Nation’s security," a Justice Department spokesperson said.

The appeal will go to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment on plans to appeal a similar, though broader, ruling from a Hawaii-based judge halting the visa ban as well as the suspension of refugee admissions from around the world.

The quick appeal in the Maryland case could indicate an effort by Trump's legal team to try to delay seeking another ruling from the traditionally liberal 9th Circuit in the hope of finding a more receptive judicial audience at the 4th Circuit. However, that court has swung in a more liberal direction in recent years, so a win there for Trump is far from a sure thing.

Still, the Justice Department could have trouble getting the case moving on an expedited schedule at the 4th Circuit as long as the restraining order from Honolulu-based Judge Derrick Watson remains in place, since it would prevent the administration moving forward even if the Maryland order were lifted.

While the Trump administration needs to move with some speed in order to buttress its claims that the travel ban orders are necessary to address urgent national security concerns, some degree of delay could be to the administration's strategic advantage. Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, could be confirmed by mid-April and would then be in a position to provide a pivotal swing vote in the administration's favor on any emergency requests it makes to allow the latest travel ban directive to take effect.

The Justice Department could also be holding off on appealing the ruling from Watson in order to ask him directly to modify the scope of his ruling.

The Hawaii case was brought by the State of Hawaii and the imam of the local Muslim association. The Maryland case was filed by two refugee aid groups, the International Refugee Assistance Project and HIAS, formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

Trump: Judge blocked a 'watered down' travel ban

Meanwhile, the Seattle-based federal judge who issued the broadest injunction against Trump's original travel ban order said Friday that he's putting off ruling on a similar request regarding the revised version.

"The Federal District Court of Hawai'i's nationwide injunction already provides plaintiffs the relief they seek in their TRO [temporary restraining order] motion," U.S. District Court Judge James Robart wrote in an order deferring the request from several U.S. citizens or residents and family members abroad who could be impacted by the travel ban. He also stayed a similar request from a group of states pursuing a parallel case also assigned to him.

Opponents of Trump's travel ban orders said they're confident the courts will leave the injunctions in place.

"President Trump’s Muslim ban has fared miserably in the courts, and for good reason — it violates fundamental provisions of our Constitution. We look forward to defending this careful and well-reasoned decision in the appeals court," said Omar Jadwat of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has coordinated a series of lawsuits over the directives.