Travel ban ruling 'victory for national security': Donald Trump

SC reinstates the US president's travel ban targeting citizens from six mainly Muslim countries

Donald Trump hailed Monday's Supreme Court ruling which partially reinstates the US president's travel ban targeting citizens from six mainly Muslim countries as a victory for national security.

"Today's unanimous Supreme Court decision is a clear victory for our national security," Trump said in a White House statement.

"It allows the travel suspension for the six terror-prone countries and the refugee suspension to become largely effective. As president, I cannot allow people into our country who want to do us harm.

US Supre Court said that the travel ban will go into effect "with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States." The Supreme Court left the lower-court injunctions against the ban in place, but only with respect to the challengers to the ban themselves and others in similar circumstances, meaning they involve people in the United States who have relationships with foreign nationals abroad and whose rights might be affected if those foreigners were excluded from entry.

 

But the court said the injunctions were too broad to also include barring enforcement of the ban against foreigners who have no connection to the United States at all. "Denying entry to such a foreign national does not burden any American party by reason of that party's relationship with the foreign national," the court said.

The court also said it would allow a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the United States to go into effect on the same grounds, allowing the government to exclude from the United States refugee claimants who do not have any "bona fide relationship" with an American individual or entity.

Three of the court's conservatives said they would have granted Trump's request in full, including Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch.

The case is Trump's first major challenge at the Supreme Court, where he restored a 5-4 conservative majority with the appointment of Gorsuch, who joined the bench in April. There are five Republican appointees on the court and four Democratic appointees.