More US states challenge Trump travel ban

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The US states of Washington and New York have joined Hawaii in a legal challenge against President Donald Trump's revised travel ban.

Mr Trump signed an executive order placing a 90-day ban on people from six mainly Muslim countries on Monday.

But lawyers for both states argue that an existing injunction against Mr Trump's first ban remains in place.

Minnesota and Oregon are reportedly also filing lawsuits seeking to block the ban, which begins on 16 March.

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The latest directive removed Iraq from a previous list of targeted countries after its government agreed to additional visa vetting measures.

The revised ban bars new visas for people from: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily blocks all refugees.

The previous order, which Mr Trump signed in January, was blocked in federal courts and sparked protests as well as confusion at airports.

But critics maintain the revised travel ban discriminates against Muslims.

"President Trump's latest executive order is a Muslim Ban by another name, imposing policies and protocols that once again violate the Equal Protection Clause and Establishment Clause of the United State Constitution," said New York Attorney General Eric T Schneiderman after announcing his legal challenge.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who was the first to sue over the original ban, said he would ask a federal judge to rule that the temporary restraining halting the first travel ban "remains in effect".

"We're asserting that the president cannot unilaterally declare himself free of the court's restraining order and injunction," he said.