Supreme Court agrees to hear travel-ban case, allowing limited version to go ahead
Final decision on ban may not come until several months later
The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration on Monday to go forward with a limited version of its ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries, a victory for President Donald Trump in the biggest legal controversy of his young presidency.
The justices will hear full arguments in October in the case that has stirred heated emotions across the nation. In the meantime, the court said that Trump’s ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can be enforced if those visitors lack a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”
Trump said last week that the ban would take effect 72 hours after being cleared by courts.
The administration has said the 90-day ban was needed on national security grounds to allow an internal review of screening procedures for visa applicants from the six countries. Opponents say the ban is unlawful, based on visitors’ Muslim religion. The administration review should be complete before October 2, the first day the justices could hear arguments in their new term.
A 120-day ban on refugees also is being allowed to take effect on a limited basis.
