US Supreme Court keeps parts of President Donald Trump’s travel ban in place

US President Donald Trump

The US Supreme Court has granted the government's request to reinstate parts of Donald Trump's controversial travel ban, handing a surprising victory to the president attempting to ban Muslims from several countries entering the United States.  

The Supreme Court on Monday narrowed the scope of lower court rulings that blocked Trump’s Muslim ban from taking effect nationwide, and also agreed to hear the administration’s appeal in these cases. The ban would affect people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The court announced that it would hear arguments on the legality of Trump’s executive order in the court's next term, which starts in October.

The court, however, granted the government's emergency request to put the presidential decree into effect immediately while the legal battle continues.

According to the ruling, citizens of the six countries who do not have a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in America would be denied entry, but people who can prove they have a relationship to a person or entity inside the US will be permitted to travel to the country.

The justices said that the travel ban is in effect "with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States."

People protest outside as the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle prepares to hear arguments on US President Donald Trump's executive order banning citizens from six Muslim countries from entering the US, May 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

With the appointment of Neil Gorsuch in April, Trump has restored a 5-4 conservative majority at the Supreme Court. Now there are five Republican appointees on the court and four Democratic appointees.

Three of the five Republican judges, including Gorsuch, said they would have allowed Trump to reinstate the presidential order in full, but another conservative judge, Justice Clarence Thomas, objected to it. 

Trump issued the revised travel ban on March 6 after his initial directive signed in January was blocked by a federal judge in Washington state and upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, California.

However, the revised order was also blocked by federal judges in the states of Hawaii and Maryland and upheld by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. 

A man carries a sign in protest against US President Donald Trump's travel ban outside a federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, on February 7, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The Supreme Court was not required to hear the case but did so due to its importance and the fact that the request was made by the US government.

Trump says the travel ban is needed to prevent terrorism in the United States.

The controversial ban has prompted protests and debate across the US. Legal experts say the ban discriminates against Muslims and is rooted in religious hostility.

During last year’s presidential campaign, Trump called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."