The Trump administration scored a partial victory Monday, with the Supreme Court agreeing to implement part of the president’s controversial travel ban.
In its unsigned opinion, the justices lifted an injunction on part of the order, while committing to resolve the rest in autumn.
Under the new Supreme Court dictate, the United States will be able to bar immigration and limit visas to persons who have no established ties or business in the United States. The decision would not affect visitors and tourists seeking to attend universities, visit family members, accept job offers, or continue working after a hiatus abroad. However, would-be migrants with no bona fide relationships with any businesses, individuals, or entities on American soil could be barred from entry.
The big question which the Supreme Court left unanswered is how much impunity the State Department, ICE, and other federal agencies will have in determining which individuals should be barred from admittance.
Donald Trump’s second travel ban’s ultimate intent was to place an injunction on all immigration from six Muslim-majority countries, citing risk to national security. The administration branded the nations as state sponsors of terror.
The exact wording provided in the Supreme Court ruling is as follows:
“In practical terms, this means that §2(c) may not be enforced against foreign nationals who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with any person or entity in the United States. All other foreign nationals are subject to the provisions of EO—2.”
CNN claims the last line is crucial, in that it allows a significant portion of the travel ban to become immediately effective.
Some predictions indicate that the political make-up of the Supreme Court, coupled with the recent ruling, suggest that justices may uphold the executive order in its entirety come autumn.
The Supreme Court’s opinion was the first victory the Trump administration has managed to secure since the president signed the first executive order in January. The action was almost immediately stalled by a series of lower court maneuvers, before being scrapped and replaced later in the year.
Trump’s second travel ban, which made several concessions to would-be migrants and knocked Iraq off the list of excluded nations, faced at first what appeared to be a similar fate – a U.S. District Court in Hawaii ordered an injunction on the order, which was later upheld.
The president himself was pleased with the ruling, saying in a statement, “Today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision is a clear victory for our national security. It allows the travel suspension for the six terror-prone countries and the refugee suspension to become largely effective.”
Sources
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