The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear a challenge to the third version of Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban. The case is Trump v. Hawaii.
Muslim Ban 3.0, which lower courts have rejected, differs from previous versions of the ban in that it bans some individuals from two non-Muslim majority countries from entering the United States. Each version of the ban has, at least on its face, not targeted Muslims directly, but instead targeted foreign nationals from a list of predominantly Muslim nations. Version 3.0 also targets nationals of North Korea, as well as certain Venezuelan government officials and their families.
Only a very small number of Venezuelans are impacted by the ban, however, and virtually no North Koreans travel to the United States.
Nevertheless, in an ominous sign for opponents of the ban, the Supreme Court allowed version 3.0 to go into effect in December, over the dissents of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
So the Court’s decision to take up this case now, after staying lower court decisions halting the ban in December, is not surprising. It does, however, suggest that Trump is starting at an advantage in this case.