President Donald Trump signs the original controversial ‘Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States’ order back in January 2017.

The US Supreme Court voted in favour of approving President Donald Trump’s travel ban on nationals wishing to enter the United States from ‘mainly Muslim countries’ yesterday.

The ruling is effectively the third attempt by the Trump Administration to try to get the legislation passed and this is now expected to impact on all travellers wishing to enter the United States from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

OBJECTIONS TO BILL WERE OVERRULED

Restrictions on the proposed legislation coming into law were put in place by earlier legal rulings, but these were effectively swept away yesterday as seven out of nine injunctions were dismissed by the Supreme Court.

A limited number of appeals are now expected to be heard, although this process will now seemingly need to be swift.

This follows a guidance instruction from the US Supreme Court yesterday which appeared to suggest that the appeals process is generally deemed to have run its course and this latest judgment should now enter the statute.

January 27, 2017: US President Donald Trump signs the ‘Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States; order, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence (left) and Secretary of Defence James Mattis (right). Photo credit: The White House.

LOWER COURT MISGIVINGS SWEPT AWAY

The decision in favour of the ban also comes despite severe misgivings about the ruling expressed by judges in lower courts – including Hawaii – where the proposed legislation was blatantly claimed to discriminate on the basis of nationality rather than any solid evidence of any terrorism intent.

However, White House’s Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said last night that the government is expecting the ruling to be positive. In a formal briefing from the White House yesterday he said: “We are not surprised by today’s Supreme Court decision permitting immediate enforcement of the President’s proclamation limiting travel from countries presenting heightened risks of terrorism.

“The proclamation is lawful and essential to protecting our homeland. We look forward to presenting a fuller defence of the proclamation as the pending cases work their way through the courts.”