WASHINGTON: The United States Supreme Court said Monday that the government could fully enforce a revised ban on travelers from six mainly Muslim countries pending appeal, backing President Donald Trump in the year-long battle over the controversial measure. The court stayed October rulings from two lower courts that had blocked implementation of the ban on visitors from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen while legal challenges to it continued. The third version of Trump´s travel ban, unveiled in September, drew immediate challenges in federal appeals courts in Richmond, Virginia and San Francisco, California. Plaintiffs argued that the measure targets Muslims in violation of the US Constitution and did not advance security goals as the government claimed. The challengers convinced the lower courts to put implementation on hold while they and government lawyers fight out the legality of the policy. But the Trump administration, which says the ban is crucial to protect US national security and deter terror attacks, secured strong support from the Supreme Court in a 7-2 vote to let the government move ahead while the appeals continue. “We are not surprised by today´s Supreme Court decision permitting immediate enforcement of the President´s proclamation limiting travel from countries presenting heightened risks of terrorism,” the White House said. “The proclamation is lawful and essential to protecting our homeland. We look forward to presenting a fuller defense of the proclamation as the pending cases work their way through the courts,” it added. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation´s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, criticized the ruling. “This decision ignores the very real human consequences to American citizens and their families abroad imposed by President Trump´s Muslim Ban 3.0,” said CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri. The Supreme Court justices said they expect the lower appeals courts to expedite their decisions, leaving open the possibility that the policy could return to the Supreme Court in yet another legal challenge to the White House. The San Francisco court will hear the case on Wednesday and the Richmond court on Friday.