US Supreme Court allows Trump's refugee ban to proceed

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump's ban on refugees from entering the U.S. to continue.

In a one-sentence order, the top court said it would block a lower court ruling upending the controversial policy pending "further order of this Court" one day after it agreed to an emergency request from the Justice Department to block the appellate ruling.

If the refugee ban had been overridden, roughly 24,000 refugees would have been allowed into the country by November.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments over the wider travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries on Oct. 10.

In addition to freezing new visas for travelers coming from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, the ban also seeks to halt refugee admittance from countries around the world.

In June, the top court allowed parts of the travel ban to go into effect while saying those who have a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States" should be exempted.

The administration and those suing it have quarreled over what exactly constitutes a "bona fide" relationship.

But last week's Ninth Circuit court ruling said the government too narrowly limited familial relations and that relatives of those already in the country could not be prevented from entering the U.S.

In seeking its emergency request Monday, the government did not contest that portion of the appellate court's decision.

With the court scheduled to hear arguments early next month, it is unclear what exactly the case will address. The 90-day visa ban expires at the end of September, and the refugee ban expires at the end of October.