US SC agrees to review rulings on Trump's travel ban

The US Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear the Trump administration's challenge to lower court rulings blocking a travel ban affecting six Muslim-majority countries.

The top court will allow enforcement of parts of the travel ban while the case moves forward, CNBC reported.

Trump had argued that the measure, a key campaign plank and one of the most divisive moves of his young presidency, is necessary to prevent terrorist attacks in the US.

Critics and some federal court rulings said that the measure targets immigrants based on religion after Trump, as a candidate, called for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the US.

Two federal appeals courts previously upheld rulings that largely blocked enforcement of the executive order. The Trump administration made an emergency request to put the executive order into effect, the report said.

The March 6 executive order, revised from an earlier version that was blocked by courts, called for a 90-day ban on travellers from six countries -- Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

It also pushed for a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the US.

The court ruled that the order can take effect except for people who "lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the US."

--IANS

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