US President Donald Trump has called a federal appeals court's ruling against his travel ban "disgraceful," after vowing to "see you in court."
On Friday morning, Trump took another jab at the San Francisco-based Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that ruled against reinstating his order barring entry of people and refugees from several Muslim-majority nations.
Trump went ahead with his assault on the country’s legal system, calling the verdict against the controversial travel ban "a disgraceful decision." He also vowed to take the matter to the apex court.
All three judges of the ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California, ruled against renewing the ban which had been blocked by a Seattle judge following a lawsuit filed by the states of Washington and Minnesota.
Trump was enraged by the ruling against his executive order, as reflected in his "See You in Court" warning tweeted minutes after the verdict on Thursday evening.
The ruling ended a legal battle over Trump's ban in a loss for the controversial billionaire, now at the helm of the US administration.
Among other reasons, the appeals court said in its ruling that the government had failed to offer any evidence that any citizen of the seven countries carried out a terrorist attack in the US. On the contrary, the court said Washington and Minnesota states offered “ample evidence that Trump’s executive order would cause substantial injury”.
Separately, the Washington state attorney general hailed the decision as a complete victory.
Trump's January 27 executive order barred entry for citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days and imposed a 120 day halt on all refugee resettlement programs.
It has ever since created chaos at US airports where anti-trump protesters have been rallying in a show of support for immigrants and refugees from the targeted countries.
Critics have called Trump's ban discriminatory against Muslims and have questioned its value as a security measure. Trump, however, has shrugged off the criticism of the order which is part of his presidential campaign promises.
Meanwhile, two legal rights groups in the US have filed a complaint accusing customs and border officials of violating legal immigrants’ rights following Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Trump’s administration says the ban is necessary for the US national security in the face of what it calls terror threats from the seven countries, a claim that judges want evidence to be proved.