The president welcomed the high court’s order as a “clear victory” for US national security. He said in a statement that his “number one responsibility” is to keep the American people safe.
The Supreme Court noted that the two federal appeals courts that had blocked Trump’s travel policy, went too far to limit the president’s authority over immigration. The high court has allowed a limited version of the ban to take effect.
The Supreme Court will hear statements about the legality of the policy at the next hearing which commences in October.
The court granted portions of the Trump administration’s emergency request that the Executive Order of March 6 be put into effect immediately, as well as a 120-day ban on any refugee who wants to enter America.
The ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries, opened the biggest legal controversy of Trump’s presidency, after he said at least a 90-day ban was needed on national security grounds to screen applicants.
Three of the court’s conservative justices supported the complete ban. Justice Clarence Thomas said the government’s interest in preserving national security outweighs any hardship that potential visitors might experience.
Visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can be denied entry into the US due to a lack of a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States”.
Trump issued a first executive order for a travel ban taking effect immediately, causing long waiting lines at airports over the last weekend in January as Homeland Security officials struggled to cope.
A federal judge blocked it eight days later, an order that was upheld by a 9th circuit panel, the Associated Press reported.
The administration did not appeal the order but has since revised its policy, and in March, Trump issued a streamlined order.