In 7-2 ruling handed down Monday afternoon, the US Supreme Court will allow full enforcement of a ban on travel to the United States by residents of six mostly Muslim countries by lifting injunctions imposed by lower courts.
As the Associated Press reports, “The ban applies to travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Lower courts had said people from those nations with a claim of a ‘bona fide’ relationship with someone in the United States could not be kept out of the country. Grandparents, cousins and other relatives were among those courts said could not be excluded.”
This is not a ruling on the merits, and we continue our fight. We are at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to argue that the Muslim ban should ultimately be struck down. https://t.co/17CQDxpUhx
— ACLU (@ACLU) December 4, 2017
As the ALCU notes, the ruling does not mean the court has sided with the Trump administration on the merits of the “Muslim Ban” itself — a policy that sparked fierce protests when it was first announced earlier this year and which civil liberties advocates have widely condemned — but instead stayed orders from lower courts which said that enforcement of the ban should be on hold while the various challenges to the policy made their way through the system.
#SCOTUS grants Trump administration request to broadly apply latest version of travel ban pic.twitter.com/PbIhMdMbp7
— Kimberly Robinson (@KimberlyRobinsn) December 4, 2017
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor were the two dissenting voices on the bench.
Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, had this reaction:
“President Trump’s anti-Muslim prejudice is no secret — he has repeatedly confirmed it, including just last week on Twitter. It’s unfortunate that the full ban can move forward for now, but this order does not address the merits of our claims. We continue to stand for freedom, equality, and for those who are unfairly being separated from their loved ones. We will be arguing Friday in the Fourth Circuit that the ban should ultimately be struck down.”
Others critics of the ban were swift in expressing their disappointment, but also explained that the order does not contain anything about the court’s overall assessment of the case:
Shameful. Trump’s #MuslimBan is illogical, islamophobic, and unconscionable. SCOTUS got this wrong. Another stain added to our nation’s history. https://t.co/mggSqpmZ2e
— Faiza N. Ali (@faiza_n_ali) December 4, 2017
This is the worst week since the elections and it’s gonna get even worse. WAKE UP. #GOPTaxScam #MuslimBan #NoMuslimBanEver
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 4, 2017
Just in on Muslim ban: Supreme Court has stayed the injunctions in Hawaii and IRAP cases pending dispo of CA9 and CA4 cases and any cert petition. Ginsburg and Sotomayor note their objection. Not a word on merits or equities. pic.twitter.com/PYtmvRjNTq
— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) December 4, 2017
To Muslims in the United States, those kept apart from loved ones by the ban, and everyone who cherishes religious equality, we stand with you. We continue to fight for freedom and equality and for those who are unfairly being separated from their loved ones. #NoMuslimBanEver
This is not a ruling on the merits, and we continue our fight. We are at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to argue that the Muslim ban should ultimately be struck down. https://t.co/17CQDxpUhx
— ACLU (@ACLU) December 4, 2017
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