US Supreme Court allows Donald Trump administration ban on most refugees

Travel ban: United States of America Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has allowed the Donald Trump administration to maintain its restrictive policy on refugees. In essence, the apex court justices agreed to Trump administration’s request to block a lower court ruling that aimed at easing the refugee ban, allowing up to 24,000 refugees to come into the country before the end of October. The order, however, was not the apex court’s last word on the travel ban that President Donald Trump first put in place in January earlier this year. The justices are scheduled to hear arguments on October 10 on the legality of the travel ban from six Muslim-majority countries and refugees anywhere in the world.

The court’s order notwithstanding, it’s unclear at this point what will be left for the court to decide. The 90-day travel ban lapses end of September and the 120-day refugee ban will expire at least a month later.

On Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said told the Associated Press: “We are pleased that the Supreme Court has allowed key components of the order to remain in effect. We will continue to vigorously defend the order leading up to next month’s oral argument in the Supreme Court.” Also Read: US court deals blow to Trump travel ban, says some refugees must be allowed in the country

The Donald Trump administration has yet to spell out clearly whether it will seek to renew the travel bans, make them permanent or expand it to other countries. Lower courts in the United States of America have ruled that the travel restrictions violate the Constitution and federal immigration law. The high court has agreed to review those rulings.

In June this year, the justices had said the Trump administration could not enforce the travel bans against people who have a “bona fide” relationship with people or entities within US. The justices, however, didn’t define the relationships more precisely.

(with inputs from AP)