The Supreme Court said the Trump administration’s "Remain in Mexico" immigration policy may remain in place while lower-court challenges play out.

The ruling on Wednesday is a setback for critics who say immigrants who apply for asylum in the United States are being held in dangerous conditions in Mexico. The "Remain in Mexico" policy was enacted in January 2019, blocking applicants for asylum from entering the U.S. until their applications are approved.

The Supreme Court’s decision voids a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that the immigration policy violates federal and international law. The 9th Circuit did not stay the policy, however, allowing it to be held in place until the Supreme Court decided whether it would hear the case.

The Supreme Court’s ruling did not surprise experts who expected the high court to side with the Trump administration.

"It is very likely that the Supreme Court will grant the administration’s request to halt the Ninth Circuit’s original decision to suspend the policy," Cornell Law School immigration professor Stephen Yale-Loehr said after the 9th Circuit’s Feb. 28 ruling.

Trump enacted the policy over a year ago as several caravans containing thousands of immigrants were traveling through Mexico to the U.S. southern border. Studies indicate that many migrants use illegitimate asylum claims to gain entrance to the U.S. before disappearing in the interior.

Migrants disappear into the U.S. either without filing official claims or before receiving official refugee status. Over 70% of deported migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras cited solely economic concerns on their asylum applications, according to 2017 data from the Survey of Migration at Mexico’s Southern Border.

Attorneys from immigration advocacy groups argued that the Trump policy is cruel, forcing immigrants in risky situations living in camps on the Mexican side of the border while they wait for immigration judges to process asylum applications.

"The policy is a disgrace. It’s illegal, it’s morally indefensible, and it needs to stop," American Civil Liberties Union attorney Judy Rabinovitz said.