WASHINGTON • The US Supreme Court yesterday handed a victory to President Donald Trump by allowing his temporary bans on travellers from six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees to go into effect for people with no connection to the United States while agreeing to hear his appeals in the closely watched legal fight.
The court, which narrowed the scope of lower court rulings that had completely blocked his March 6 executive order, said it would hear arguments on the legality of one of Mr Trump's signature policies in his first months as president in the court's next term, which starts in October.
The court said the travel ban will go into effect "with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".
The court also said it would allow a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the US to go into effect on the same grounds, allowing the government to exclude from the US refugee claimants who do not have any "bona fide relationship" with an American individual or entity.
Mr Trump said last week that the ban would go into effect 72 hours after receiving approval from the courts.
The Supreme Court also said in the ruling that it would consider whether the case will be moot by the time it hears it; the ban is supposed to be a temporary one while the government reviews its vetting procedures.
REUTERS, WASHINGTON POST