Trump’s Travel Ban Faces Examination and Questions from the Supreme Court

Three versions and fifteen months later, President Trump’s long-promised travel ban faces scrutiny and questioning from the Supreme Court.

President Trump’s travel ban is facing a challenge from the Supreme Court, as the court questions his authority and legitimacy in imposing such a ban that restricts the entry from Muslims nations.

So far the five judges seemed still rather unsure regarding whether to strike down the ban or not. Among the five judges, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy were the main targets and hopes of immigrant rights group for advocating against the travel ban. The liberal wing was expected to counter President Trump’s Muslim ban.

Some of the questions raised by the judges were regarding the proper justifications of national security for such a ban and demanded a distinction between this travel ban and a religious animus. Justice Elena Kagan raised her wariness towards the ban by pointing to the potential reactions from observers regarding the United States’ attitudes towards Jews.

On the other hand, Justice Kennedy questioned the challengers’ reasoning and intentions of second-guessing the authority and judgements of the president.

President Trump has been proposing this travel ban specifically targeted towards predominantly Muslims nations since his election campaign in 2016. A week after his inauguration he issued his first ban that have since then led to great chaos, wariness, and disruptions in airports and many families. The travel ban now has gone through two revisions and brought up to the Supreme court for a final verdict.

The court is expected to decide the legitimacy of the travel ban by the end of June. The case, named Trump v. Hawaii, centers its controversy around the intentions of this travel ban. Many disagree on whether this ban is truly serving the purpose of national security or a simply biased religious discrimination.

Mr. Trump’s behaviors and remarks themselves also made it harder to differentiate between the two as he is known to be outspoken and quite abrasive in his public speeches and social media against certain religious groups involved in the travel ban. in fact, his lawyers have asked the court to not consider Mr. Trump’s Twitter posts in weighing this travel ban.

Along with this travel ban, another one of Mr. Trump’s ongoing project is to end DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program put into effect under the Obama administration. This effort has too been blocked by federal judges so far.

This third version of the ban target eight countries, including Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, Venezuela and North Korea. Six on the list are Muslims nations. The ban forbids citizens of these nations from entering or immigrating to the United States.

The case was initiated officially when Hawaii along with several individuals and a Muslim group brought their discontentment towards the travel ban to the Supreme Court, specifically on the ban towards Muslims countries.

The stance of the Supreme Court remains unclear to the public. The court has said that it would take into account of both statutory and constitutional rules to examine the president’s authority in enforcing such a ban and his intentions in national security. However, challengers remained in high spirit as they held solid evidence against President Trump in his part remarks and personal prejudices against Muslims as the reason driving this travel ban.

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