The Supreme Court has decided to uphold President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The ruling was along partisan lines and came down to a 5 to 4 vote. Lower courts and states have challenged the ban since it was first introduced. The version the Supreme Court is upholding is the third version of the ban.
How the Supreme Court sees it
Lower courts and the challengers of the ban have argued that the travel ban exceeded the President’s authority and violated the constitution. Challengers also pointed to many of Trump’s camp gain statements where he called on a ban for travel from all majority Muslim countries. The ruling is already being called a big victory for the White House, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the President responded on Twitter.
The ruling shows that the Court believes Trump has board power when it comes to issues of immigration. Chief Justice Roberts said, “The Proclamation is squarely within the scope of Presidential authority.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor did not agree with the decision writing, “The majority here completely sets aside the President’s charged statements about Muslims as irrelevant. That holding erodes the foundational principles of religious tolerance that the court elsewhere has so emphatically protected.”
However, the third version of the travel ban is much different than the previous two. The administration was forced to make significant changes after lower courts continued striking down the original travel ban. Trump’s first ban was put into place only a week after he became president.
Lawmakers and groups react
Groups and lawmakers that had opposed the ban from the very beginning were quick to come out and condemn the Supreme Court’s latest ruling. Some of the critics continued to point back to Trump’s comments about Muslims during his campaign while others placed blame on the Supreme Court.
“This is not the first time the court has been wrong or has allowed official racism and xenophobia to continue rather than standing up to it,” The American Civil Liberties Union said in a tweet.
Republicans were a bit quieter, but Senator Lindsay Graham said he was “pleased” and in a tweet supported the ban.
