The latest declaration bans travellers from Syria, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen from entering the US. Photo / Getty
The latest declaration bans travellers from Syria, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen from entering the US. Photo / Getty
Donald Trump has called the US Supremes Court's decision to uphold his controversial Muslim travel ban a moment of "profound vindication", writes news.com.au's Gavin Fernando
The Supreme Court has upheld President Donald Trump's ban on travel from several mostly Muslim countries today, rejecting a challenge that it discriminated against Muslims or exceeded his authority. Mr Trump hailed the decision as a "tremendous victory" for the American people over "hysterical" opposition from Democrats and the media. "This ruling is also a moment of profound vindication following months of hysterical commentary from the media and Democratic politicians who refuse to do what it takes to secure our border and our country," he in a statement. He also tweeted this:
The 5-4 decision is the court's first substantive ruling on the Trump administration policy. White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who was involved in the creation of the order, said the Supreme Court's decision "reinforces Trump's instincts are right and the haters are wrong," according to Axios reporter Jonathan Swan:
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by his four conservative colleagues. Justice Roberts wrote that presidents have substantial power to regulate immigration. The court may have signalled its eventual approval in December, when the justices allowed the policy to take full effect even as the court fight continued and lower courts had ruled it out of bounds.
Why was the ban upheld?
The White House hailed Donald Trump's travel ban as the first major policy push of his presidency.
The policy started as a blanket ban on all Muslims, before becoming a temporary ban on immigrants, refugees and visa holders from a number of majority-Muslim countries.
The latest declaration, issued last September, bans travellers from Syria, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen from entering the US — as well as North Korea and Venezuela. It is designed to be permanent.
The administration claimed the ban was implemented for the sake of national security, echoing Mr Trump's campaign pledge in late 2015 to implement a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on". The original order, issued in January last year, barred people from seven majority-Muslim countries — Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya — from entering the US for 90 days. Syrian refugees were banned indefinitely. Iraq, Chad and Sudan were banned in previous versions of the ban, but these countries were later lifted.
Free legal help: During the surprise placement of last year's travel ban those arriving from the affected countries have faced great uncurtainty. Photo / David McNew, Getty Images
The ban allows for waivers on a case-by-case basis, but applicants unable to afford legal assistance will likely fail to gain entry. During the first month of the ban, only two waivers were approved out of 6555 applicants, according to the State Department.
How did people respond to the ban?
Donald Trump's travel ban policy is one of his most controversial. People protested the ban outside the Supreme Court as the judgment was being ruled, holding up posters calling for "peace and equality" and deeming the ban "unconstitutional".
Trump’s travel ban is government sponsored discrimination -- a thinly veiled attempt to target individuals based on religion and ethnicity. Monumentally disappointing that a majority on the United States Supreme Court refused to strike it down. https://t.co/hwOaVCk5fC
The Supreme Court's decision also sparked a backlash on Twitter, with social media users deeming it discriminatory and comparing it to Mr Trump's controversial policy to separate immigrant parents from their children.
Some critics have argued there's a hypocrisy to the five majority-Muslim countries chosen, given that major terror attacks of the 21st century — such as 9/11, the Boston marathon bombing and the Orlando nightclub attack — were carried out by people from countries not on the list. Omar Mateen, the mass murderer responsible for the Orlando nightclub attack, was born in New York.
What next?
The travel ban is designed to be permanent.
Vox notes that the legal fight isn't technically over, but the Supreme Court has made it extremely difficult to challenge the ban in future by noting that legal challenges aren't "likely to succeed".
In a statement to The Associated Press, American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt says it's a situation "in which there is a complete disconnect between the court's decision and what the American people know as a matter of common sense."
Gelernt says it's clear "that the president for political reasons chose to enact a Muslim ban despite national security experts, both Democrat and Republican" who counselled against it. He says it's "too early to know exactly what our next steps are."
