U.S. Supreme Court Affirms President’s Power to Institute Travel Bans

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, reversed the lower courts and held that President Trump had the lawful authority to impose a travel ban on people seeking to enter the United States from  Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Chad, North Korea and certain officials of Venezuela.  The lower courts had concluded that the ban was unconstitutional based upon all of the countries, except North Korea and Venezuela, being predominantly Muslim.  The Supreme Court concluded that the ban, which applied to only 8% of the world’s Muslim population, was facially neutral and withing the power of the president to authorize.