The United States Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Donald Trump administration’s controversial travel ban to come into complete effect. The bench did not offer an explanation for its decision, though this is not the final ruling in the matter that effects people travelling from Muslim-majority nations and North Korea, AP reported.

White House Spokesperson Hogan Gidley said the government was “not surprised” by the order related to “countries that present heightened risks of terrorism”. The administration also claimed that blocking the travel ban from full enforcement was causing “irreparable harm” as the policy was based on national security and foreign policy concerns.

On September 24, the Trump administration had unveiled its third travel ban after US courts blocked the first two. This order bans citizens of North Korea, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela and Chad from travelling to the US. A court in Hawaii had blocked the latest directive on October 18, just hours before it was set to go into full effect. But on November 13, an appeals court California had allowed the order to come into effect partially.

The appeals court had ruled that those with family relations in the country and “formal, documented” relationships with US-based entities such as universities and resettlement agencies would be exempt from the travel ban. Now, the Supreme Court order does away with this exemption, though visa officials can make exceptions taking each case into consideration.