The
President gave an executive order barring entry for people from Iran,
Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days while the U.S.
government implements stricter visa screening in March.
It was blocked by courts that found it was discriminatory.
But last night Trump's team filed two emergency applications seeking to block two different lower court rulings.
"We have asked the Supreme Court to hear this important case and are
confident that President Trump's executive order is well within his
lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities
from terrorism," Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said
in a statement.
At least five votes are needed on the nine-justice court in order to grant a stay.
The
court has a 5-4 conservative majority, with Justice Anthony Kennedy - a
conservative who sometimes sides with the court's four liberals - the
frequent swing vote.
Another of the court's conservatives, Neil Gorsuch, was appointed by Trump this year.
If the government's request is granted, the ban would go into effect.
In its 10-3 ruling, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
said challengers of the ban, including refugee groups and others
represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, were likely to
succeed on their claim that the order violated the U.S.Constitution's
bar against discriminating against a particular religion.
The March ban was Trump's second effort to implement travel
restrictions on people from several Muslim-majority countries through an
executive order.
The first, issued on January 27, led to chaos and protests at airports and in major U.S. cities before it was blocked by courts.
The
second order was intended to overcome the legal issues posed by the
original ban, but it was blocked by judges before it could go into
effect on March 16.
