Supreme Court dismisses travel ban challenge as moot News
Supreme Court dismisses travel ban challenge as moot

In a brief order Tuesday evening, the US Supreme Court vacated the judgment [order, PDF] in one of two pending challenges to President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting entry to the US from certain countries. The court remanded Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project [SCOTUSblog materials] to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit with instructions to dismiss the case as moot. The court did not act in the other pending travel ban case, Trump v. Hawaii [SCOTUSblog materials].

We granted certiorari in this case to resolve a challenge to “the temporary suspension of entry of aliens abroad under Section 2(c) of Executive Order No. 13,780.” Because that provision of the Order “expired by its own terms” on September 24, 2017, the appeal no longer presents a “live case or controversy.” … Following our established practice in such cases, the judgment is therefore vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit with instructions to dismiss as moot the challenge to Executive Order No. 13,780. … We express no view on the merits.

Justice Sotomayor dissents from the order vacating the judgment below and would dismiss the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.