U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Monday put a temporary hold on a lower court's ruling that had narrowed the scope of the Trump administration's so-called Muslim ban, thus allowing the government to continue to at least briefly bar entry from some 24,000 refugees.
"Kennedy ordered those opposing the administration to file court papers by noon Tuesday," Bloomberg reports.
His one-page ruling (pdf) follows a bid by the administration to block part of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from last Thursday. The administration argued that blocking entry to refugees who have formal assurances from resettlement agencies would "prevent further uncertainty and disruption." Amnesty International USA, in contrast, had welcomed that ruling as "temporary relief for thousands of people fleeing horrific violence."
The appeals court ruling would have gone into effect on Tuesday.
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Reacting to the government's new request to stay that part of the ruling, David Cole, national legal director of the ACLU, commented on Twitter: "Emma Lazarus turns over in her grave," referring to the poet whose iconic work "The New Colossus" appears on the Statue of Liberty.
The government did not seek a stay on the part of the ruling that exempted extended family members such as grandparents from the ban.
"The broader question of whether the travel ban discriminates against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution, as lower courts previously ruled, will be considered by the Supreme Court in October," Reuters reports.
