U.S. District Judge James Robart upheld cases brought by two states, Washington and Minnesota, and granted an order effectively suspending the U.S. visa ban and called it “unlawful”.

Judge Robart, who was appointed to his position by George W Bush, said the states who brought the case had demonstrated that the executive order had caused “immediate and irreparable injury”, The Telegraph reported on Saturday.

Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer issued a strongly worded statement saying that the administration would appeal what he initially described as the judge's “outrageous order”.

On January 27, Trump suspended all refugee admissions to the U.S. for four months and banned the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely pending a security review meant to ensure terrorists cannot slip through vetting. Trump also issued a 90-day ban on all entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.