Trump asks Supreme Court to reinstate Muslim travel ban

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court on Thursday to reinstate its controversial ban on travellers from six Muslim majority nations despite repeated setbacks the executive order suffered in the lower courts.

In its filing, the government asked the highest court in the land to rule on the legal standing of Trump’s order, appealing a ruling by the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a nationwide block of the travel ban.

“We have asked the Supreme Court to hear this important case and are confident that President Trump’s executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism,” Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said.

“The president is not required to admit people from countries that sponsor or shelter terrorism, until he determines that they can be properly vetted and do not pose a security risk to the United States.”

The Trump administration’s filing came just one week after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling dealt a fresh blow to the government’s effort.

The court said it “remained unconvinced” that the part of the measure naming the specific countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — had “more to do with national security than it does with effectuating the president’s promised Muslim ban.”