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The Supreme Court on Monday decided it will hear arguments on President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting refugees and immigrants from six majority-Muslim countries — while allowing some portions of his so-called “travel ban” to go into effect.
The arguments — scheduled for October — arrive at the nation’s highest court after two lower federal courts prohibited Trump from proceeding with his executive order, citing the fact that Trump exceeded his authority under immigration law.
In accepting the case, however, the Supreme Court will allow Trump to enforce some of his directive, so long as his administration does not target refugees who demonstrate a “relationship” with U.S. entities or individuals.
Issued in March, the executive order marked Trump’s second attempt to restrict immigration from some Middle Eastern countries on national security grounds. An earlier version, signed in January, drew immense protests around the country, particularly in Silicon Valley, before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked its implementation.
In response, Trump narrowed the countries he targeted to six: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. His order imposed a 90-day travel ban for citizens trying to come to the United States from those countries, while aiming to halt the arrival of some new refugees, particularly those from Syria.
But two federal circuits again halted its implementation. In one case, argued in Virginia, justices relied on Trump’s own rhetoric — including his tweets — in finding that the president’s order is “rooted in religious animus.”
The legal battle has drawn immense interest from the tech industry, which employs large numbers of immigrants and seeks more high-skilled foreign workers. Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google have participated repeatedly in challenges to Trump’s order, telling judges that the travel ban would impose “substantial harm on U.S. companies, their employees, and the entire economy.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
