A federal judge in Hawaii has indefinitely extended his order blocking US President Donald Trump's revised travel ban.
US District Judge Derrick Watson issued the hold on the ban - which suspends new visas from people from six Muslim-majority countries and halts the country's refugee program - on Wednesday, several hours after hearing arguments.
Hawaii says the policy discriminates against Muslims and hurts the state's tourist-dependent economy.
The implied message in the revised ban on new visas for people from Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen was like a "neon sign flashing 'Muslim ban, Muslim ban'" the government did not bother to turn off, state Attorney-General Douglas Chin told Watson.
Trump signed the new ban on March 6 in a bid to overcome legal problems with a January executive order that caused chaos at airports and sparked mass protests before a Washington judge stopped its enforcement in February.
Trump has said the ban is needed for national security.
Hawaii and other opponents claim the order's motivation is based on religion and Trump's election campaign promise of "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States".
The Trump administration had asked Watson to narrow his ruling to cover only the part of Trump's executive order involving the six-nation ban and not the freeze on the US refugee program.
Department of Justice lawyer Chad Readler told the judge the freeze had no effect on Hawaii, but Watson rejected that argument, preventing the administration halting the flow of refugees.
The Department of Justice did not immediately comment on the latest ruling.
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