Upcoming Events View All
2
Speaker: Social Media and Teen Mental Health

Tuesday, 04/02/2024 at 6:30 PM

5
6
From the Heart Rummage Sale

Saturday, 04/06/2024 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

6
St. Mark Book Fair

Saturday, 04/06/2024 at 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

7
Poet Laureates Alive: Smith, Harjo, and Limon with Noeli Lytton

Sunday, 04/07/2024 at 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

7
Divine Mercy Sunday

Sunday, 04/07/2024 at 2:00 PM

9
Eco-Series Film for April: River Blue

Tuesday, 04/09/2024 at 6:30 PM

10
Where Art Serves the World

Wednesday, 04/10/2024 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

10
Made for More Speaker Series

Wednesday, 04/10/2024 at 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

12
Quarter Auction

Friday, 04/12/2024 at 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Mehrad Ansari, a university student from Iran, held a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., June 26. After the Supreme Court upheld the travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries including Iran, Ansari said he cannot go home to see his family now if he wants to return to the U.S.
Mehrad Ansari, a university student from Iran, held a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., June 26. After the Supreme Court upheld the travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries including Iran, Ansari said he cannot go home to see his family now if he wants to return to the U.S.
Photo Credit: Leah Millis | Reuters

Supreme Court upholds travel ban, says directive within president’s scope

Court stated that the travel ban applying to members of 5 predominantly Muslim countries falls within president’s scope

WASHINGTON — In a 5-4 decision June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people entering the U.S. from some Muslim-majority countries, saying the president’s action was within his power.

The court’s much-anticipated decision in the last case it heard this term reversed a series of lower court decisions that had struck down the ban as illegal or unconstitutional.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued the opinion, supported by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch. It stated the president’s proclamation is “squarely within the scope of presidential authority” in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

In sharply worded dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, stated the court’s decision “fails to safeguard” this nation’s fundamental principle of religious liberty and “leaves undisturbed” a policy that “now masquerades behind a facade of national-security concerns.”

A statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed disappointment with the ruling, saying it “failed to take into account the clear and unlawful targeting of a specific religious group by the government.”

“The Catholic Church takes a strong stand against religious discrimination, and we will continue to advocate for the rights of people of all faiths, as well as serve migrants and refugees through our various ministries,” said the June 27 joint statement signed by two USCCB committee chairs, Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, head of the Committee on Migration, and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., head of the Committee for Religious Liberty.

The majority opinion in the case, Trump v. Hawaii, stressed that the president had “lawfully exercised the broad discretion granted to him” to suspend entry into the United States and added that the president “possesses an extraordinary power to speak to his fellow citizens and on their behalf.”

It also countered the plaintiff’s arguments that “this president’s words strike at fundamental standards of respect and tolerance, in violation of our constitutional tradition,” by noting that the issue before the court wasn’t “whether to denounce the statements” but instead to review the significance of them as part of a presidential directive that is “neutral on its face, addressing a matter within the core of executive responsibility. In doing so, we must consider not only the statements of a particular president, but also the authority of the presidency itself.”

The opinion also supported the administration’s argument that the government had a legitimate national security interest, noting that the president had removed three Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Sudan and Chad — from the list on the travel ban. It also said the president’s order provided “numerous exceptions for various categories of foreign nationals” and also created a waiver program to “all covered foreign nationals seeking entry as immigrants or nonimmigrants.”

The challengers to the ban — Hawaii, several individuals and a Muslim group — argued that Trump’s policy was motivated by an antagonism toward Muslims and that it violated federal immigration law and the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on the government favoring one religion over another.

Trump has said the travel ban is necessary to protect the United States from terrorism by Islamic militants who could enter the U.S. The current version of the directive is indefinite about how long it will be in place and applies to travelers from five countries with predominantly Muslim populations: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. It also blocks travelers from non-Muslim countries: North Korea and some Venezuelan government officials and their families.

Catholic Church leaders expressed their objection to the travel ban in an amicus brief filed March 30 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Legal Immigration Network. They stated the ban singles out “populations of six overwhelmingly Muslim nations for sweeping immigration restrictions” that don’t exist elsewhere in the world and the president’s order showed “blatant religious discrimination,” which is “repugnant to the Catholic faith, core American values, and the United States Constitution.”

Related Articles Module

From the Archive Module

Supreme Court upholds travel ban says directive within presidents scope 2652

Must Watch Videos

Now Playing

    View More Videos