WASHINGTON, June 23: The US Supreme Court refused to hear on Monday a Justice Department appeal of a ruling that limited how long the government may detain certain immigrants stopped at the nation’s border while attempting to enter illegally.

The justices without any comment let stand a US appeals court ruling that the government says would force it to release some imprisoned illegal immigrants with criminal records whose native countries do not want them back.

The high court ruled in 2001 that permanent resident immigrants who have been convicted of a crime and who have been ordered deported may be detained in prison for only six months while the United States attempts to find a country to take them.

The appeals court said the 2001 ruling, which involved immigrants already residing in the United States, would also apply to “excludable aliens” who had been apprehended at the US border.

The case involved Mario Rosales-Garcia and Reynero Carballo, Cuban nationals who had been stopped at the border as they attempted to enter the United States illegally as part of the 1980 Mariel boatlift. They then were granted immigration parole.

After committing various crimes, their paroles were revoked and the US government sought to deport them. Cuba refused to accept them and they were detained by US immigration officials.

They filed habeas corpus petitions challenging the constitutionality of their detentions. The appeals court ruled their continued, indefinite detention raised constitutional concerns and was not authorized by law.