The Supreme Court has upheld President Donald Trump's travel ban in one of the most highly anticipated decisions of this year, saying the ban is "squarely within" the president's authority.The Court's 5-4 ruling that the third iteration of Trump's controversial proposal, Travel Ban 3.0, is constitutional comes after two previous attempts by the administration to bar immigration to the United States from certain foreign countries.President Trump reacted quickly, tweeting "SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Hawaii and the other plaintiffs challenged the proclamation, asking the court to rule on whether it was a lawful use of the president's authority, was too broad, or improperly targeted countries with a large Muslim population.The court ruled in favor of the administration, Chief Justice John Roberts writing "..the Government has set forth a sufficient national security justification to survive rational basis review. The Trump administration argued that the latest version of the travel ban is different, because it was imposed only after the administration surveyed more than 200 countries for their effectiveness in providing information about the backgrounds of visa applicants and success in fighting terrorism. We must make it crystal clear to our elected representatives: If you are not taking action to rescind and dismantle Trump's Muslim ban, you are not upholding this country's most basic principles of freedom and equality," director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project Omar Jadwat said in a statement.Two previous attempts by the Trump administration to restrict immigration from majority-Muslim countries have been struck down by federal courts.A week after his inauguration, Trump issued an executive order to immediately suspend admission into the country by individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan for 90 days.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules 5–4 in favor of the Trump administration's September 2017 travel ban.