Sudhin Thanawala

A federal appeals court refused Thursday to reinstate President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations, dealing another legal setback to the new administration’s immigration policy. In a unanimous decision, the panel of three judges from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block a lower-court ruling that suspended the ban and allowed previously barred travelers to enter the U.S. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is possible. The court rejected the administration’s claim that it did not have the authority to review the president’s executive order.

President Donald Trump’s travel ban faced its toughest test yet Tuesday as a panel of appeals court judges hammered away at the government’s arguments that the ban was motivated by terrorism fears but also directed pointed questions to an attorney who claimed it unconstitutionally targeted Muslims. A decision is expected to come later this week.