A year rife with failure for the Trump administration sees some of its first victories since the election; these include the passing of the contentious GOP tax plan and now the Supreme Court’s decision (announced Monday) that will allow Trump’s third rendition of the travel ban to go into full effect. The court-approved travel ban will restrict entry into the United States for residents of eight countries, while challenges to its legality continue to be heard in Federal Appeals Court. The 9th and 4th circuit courts are set to hear arguments challenging the ban this week.
Of the eight countries, six are Muslim-majority nations- Syria, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Chad and Somalia- the other two are North Korea and Venezuela. The court gave no explanation for the lifting of its former ruling preventing full enforcement of these travel bans. Federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii had partially blocked the current administration’s previous attempts of a ban, “allowing travelers who have a credible claim to a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States,” but with this new ban even those people will be barred entry into the country.
The administration has argued that this ban differs from previous failed attempts because non-Muslim countries are included on the list and because it includes a thorough review (not included in the first two attempts) of “ongoing deficiencies in the information needed to assess nationals of particular countries.” The court’s decision seems to accept the argument of a ban that is legitimately needed for national security, and one that is not an out right Muslim ban. Critics, however, continue to insist that it is indeed a religiously motivated ban. As director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, Omar Jadwat, has said “President Trump’s anti-Muslim prejudice is no secret.” Whether the Supreme Court’s current decision will stand will be determined in the following days in the federal appeals court cases.
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