Washington: In a major victory for President Donald Trump, the US Supreme Court has allowed his travel ban to take full effect pending appeal, for people coming from six Muslim-majority countries.
“We are not surprised by Supreme Court decision permitting immediate enforcement of the President’s proclamation limiting travel from countries presenting heightened risks of terrorism,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said after the order.
Mr Trump’s travel ban was challenged by Hawaii and American Civil Liberties Union in separate lawsuits. They argued that such a travel ban discriminates against Muslims.
“It is difficult to conceive of a more flagrant example of discrimination because of nationality,” said Indian American attorney Neal Katyal, who appeared for Hawaii.
The New York Immigration Coalition executive director, Steven Choi, said that it is entirely unacceptable and un-American to discriminate against people based on race or religion.
“Allowing the full enforcement of the Muslim ban will not make this country safer or greater. Nearly a year after we rallied at JFK in response to the first Muslim ban, we will continue to fight Mr Trump’s plan to turn bigotry into policy and resist this latest assault on our liberties just as we have every day since Mr Trump took office,” Choi said.
Michael S. Glassner, executive director of Donald J. Trump for President campaign committee, welcomed the decision.
“From June 16, 2015 to this day, President Trump’s immigration policies have always been about one thing: keeping Americans safe from people who seek to do us harm and attack our freedoms,” he said.
“As promised, the President directed his administration to conduct a thorough and appropriate review of immigration vetting procedures,” he added.
