Supreme Court upholds Trump’s travel ban

In a major victory for the Trump administration, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban on seven mostly Muslim countries in a 5-4 ruling. The president’s immigration order in September 2017 restricted travel into the United States by citizens of Somalia, Iran, Libya, Chad, Venezuela, North Korea, Yemen, and Syria. The Trump administration withdrew Chad from the list in April. Hawaii was among the states challenging the travel restrictions, and in Trump v. Hawaii the state argued the president had superseded his authority and acted against Islam, the predominant religion in the most of the named countries. In the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court rejected claims that Trump’s travel ban was triggered by religious hostility and said it falls “squarely” within his authority as president. Roberts noted that “the order is expressly premised on legitimate purposes: preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices.”