Muslim travel ban partly reinstated
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump yesterday hailed a Supreme Court ruling approving a limited version of his travel ban on travellers from six Muslimmajority countries and all refugees as a win for national security.
The ruling means Trump’s ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can be enforced if those visitors lack a ‘‘credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States’’.
The ban will take effect 72 hours after the court’s ruling, meaning it will be applied from Thursday morning (local time).
In October, Supreme Court justices will hear full arguments about the ban which has stirred heated emotions across the US and pointed rebukes from lower courts claiming the Trump Administration is targeting Muslims.
The ruling sets up a potential clash between the Government and opponents of the ban over the strength of visitors’ ties to the US. A senior official said plans already had been written to enforce the ban aggressively. But immigrant groups said relatively few people tried to enter the US without wellestablished ties. Those groups say they will be sending lawyers and monitors back to American airports, where the initial, immediate implementation of the ban in January caused chaos and confusion.
Trump denies the ban targets Muslims but says it is needed ‘‘to protect the nation from terrorist activities’’ committed by citizens of the six countries, which have all been designated as presenting heightened concerns about terrorism and travel to the US.
The 90day ban is necessary to allow an internal review of screening procedures for visa applicants from the countries, the Administration says. That review should be completed before October 2, the first day the justices could hear arguments in their new term.
The ban will have run its course by then, raising a question of whether the justices will even issue a decision in the case or dismiss it because it has been overtaken by events.
The court asked both sides to address the issue of timing, along with questions about whether the ban is aimed at Muslims, the impact of Trump’s provocative campaign statements and federal courts’ authority to restrain the president in the area of immigration.
A 120day ban on refugees also is being allowed to take effect on a similar, limited basis. — AP