Supreme Court Allows Trump Travel Ban to Take Effect
Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the order “a substantial victory for the safety
and security of the American people.” A spokesman for the White House, Hogan Gidley, said, “We are not surprised by today’s Supreme Court decision,” calling it “lawful and essential to protecting our homeland.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents people
and groups challenging the ban, said it would continue to argue against the ban as challenges against it in lower appeals courts proceed.
Judge Chuang limited his injunction to exclude people without “a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person
or entity in the United States,” quoting from a Supreme Court order issued in June concerning the second travel ban.
“It’s unfortunate that the full ban can move forward for now, but this order does not address the merits of our claims.”
In a pair of filings in the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco said Mr. Trump had acted under his broad constitutional
and statutory authority to control immigration when he issued a new proclamation in September announcing the new travel restrictions.
The Supreme Court’s orders effectively overturned a compromise in place since June, when the court said travelers with connections
to the United States could continue to travel here notwithstanding restrictions in an earlier version of the ban.
Similarly, Judge Derrick K. Watson of the Federal District Court in Honolulu found
that the September proclamation “suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor,” adding that it “plainly discriminates based on nationality” in violation of federal law “and the founding principles of this nation.”
The administration has appealed both decisions to federal appeals courts in Seattle and Richmond, Va.