US Supreme Court upholds Trump travel ban

The US Supreme Court upholds President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from several mostly Muslim countries, rejecting a challenge that it discriminated against Muslims or exceeded his authority.

The 5-4 decision is the court’s first substantive ruling on a Trump administration policy.

Chief Justice John Roberts writes the majority opinion, joined by his four conservative colleagues.

Roberts writes that presidents have substantial power to regulate immigration. He also rejects the challengers’ claim of anti-Muslim bias.

Roberts is careful not to endorse either Trump’s provocative statements about immigration in general and Muslims in particular.

“We express no view on the soundness of the policy,” Roberts writes.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor writes in a dissent that based on the evidence in the case, “a reasonable observer would conclude that the Proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus.”

She says her colleagues arrived at the opposite result by “ignoring the facts, misconstruing our legal precedent, and turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering the Proclamation inflicts upon countless families and individuals, many of whom are United States citizens.”

Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan also dissent.

— AP