US Muslim travel bans get a trial

DONALD Trump’s travel ban blocking residents from six majority Muslim countries will be fully enforced following the US Supreme Court’s approval yesterday of his third version of the policy.

The sweeping executive order bars travellers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

A week after Mr Trump took office in January, he issued the first travel ban but it was suspended nationwide by a Seattle federal judge.

Then in March a revised version was produced that removed Iraq from the original list. The second one expired in September after a long court fight and was replaced with the present version.

Critics have dubbed the proposal a “Muslim travel ban” and it has sparked major protests around the world.

Mr Trump’s ban also covers people from North Korea and certain Venezuelan officials, but lower courts have already allowed those provisions.

The nine-member Supreme Court said yesterday that lower court rulings partly blocking the ban should be put on hold while appeals courts weighed the cases.

This means the travel ban can go into full effect even though San Francisco and Richmond appeal courts are due to hear arguments on the legality of the ban this week.

The ban was challenged by Hawaii and the American Civil Liberties Union. They claim the approved version still discriminates against Muslims in violation of the US Constitution and is not permissible under immigration laws.