The Supreme Court has decided to rule on whether federal judges can mandate the release of detainees at Guantanamo Bay who represent no terrorist threat into the United States, over objections from the Obama Administration.

The case could set up a major separation of powers battle before the court, which decided more than a year ago that detainees had the right to challenge in federal court their continued detention. But it also might be avoided if the administration finds a way to relocate the prisoners involved in the case, a group of Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs.

The Bush administration agreed that the men, captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2001, were not enemy combatants. However, returning them to their home country would put them at risk of torture.

A federal judge ruled that the 17 prisoners could be released into the United States. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District overruled, saying only the legislative and executive branches had the power to exclude or admit foreigners to the country.

The Obama administration had asked the Supreme Court not to review the decision.

This reads more like an immigration case than a civil liberties case. However, the Administration has delayed justice for the Uighurs, preferring to find countries willing to take the remaining detainees instead of allowing them to settle in the US. This has hampered the prospects for closing the prison at Guantanamo within a year, as the President promised. In addition, the remaining Uighurs have essentially been unlawfully imprisoned in contravention of a court order since February.

The last time the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on Obama’s detention policy, in the case of Ali al-Marri, the White House quickly moved to transfer him to a civilian court, making the case irrelevant. One suspects they will try to swiftly transfer the Uighurs abroad now and pre-empt this case, Kiyemba v. Obama, as well.

A group of retired generals and groups like VoteVets released an ad today calling on Congress to “lift the cloud” hanging over Washington by closing Guantanamo now (they have a petition drive at CloseGitmoNow.org). So there is pressure on both the legislative and executive branches to reach a solution to the Guantanamo problem.