Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Supreme Court ruling upholding President Donald Trump’s travel ban (all times local):
12:05 p.m.
The Senate’s No. 2 Republican says political opponents are mischaracterizing a Supreme Court ruling upholding President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas says that despite claims by some Democrats, “This is not a Muslim ban.”
Asked if Trump was trying to restrict entry of Muslims or other religious groups into the U.S., Cornyn said, “I think he’s trying to keep the country safe.”
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11:36 a.m.
Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, says the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the Trump administration’s travel ban gives “legitimacy to discrimination and Islamophobia.”
The Minnesota Democrat says, “This decision will someday serve as a marker of shame.”
Ellison likened the 5-4 ruling in favor of the travel ban ruling to infamous decisions in the court’s history, including one that allowed Japanese internment camps during World War II and another codifying the “separate but equal” doctrine of racial segregation.
Ellison earlier this month announced he is leaving Congress to run for attorney general of Minnesota.
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11:35 a.m.
President Donald Trump is hailing the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding his administration’s travel ban as “a moment of profound vindication.”
In a statement issued by the White House, Trump praised the 5-4 ruling as a “tremendous victory for the American people and the Constitution.”
The Supreme Court rejected a challenge that the policy discriminated against Muslims or exceeded Trump’s authority. Trump said the ruling follows “months of hysterical commentary from the media and Democratic politicians who refuse to do what it takes to secure our border and our country.”
Trump says that as long as he is president, he will “defend the sovereignty, safety, and security of the American People, and fight for an immigration system that serves the national interests of the United States and its citizens.
The 5-4 decision is the court’s first substantive ruling on a Trump administration policy.
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11:30 a.m.
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker says he is disappointed at the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding President Donald Trump’s travel ban, but says the ban itself is less than what the president initially wanted to do — which Booker said had amounted to a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
Booker, of New Jersey, said Trump has “tried multiple times” to impose a religious test on entry to the country, “and his efforts have been diluted by the court system.”
Booker, who just returned from the southern border with Mexico, decried Trump’s recently rescinded policy of separating migrant families. He said the United States needs to reclaim its values: “We’re a good nation, we’re a good people. And we should be setting a standard on this planet of what humanity should be about.”
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11:05 a.m.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons says the Supreme Court’s ruling that President Donald Trump’s travel ban is constitutional “doesn’t mean that it’s right, that it’s justified or that it reflects America’s values.”
Coons, of Delaware, is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says he’ll introduce legislation to make clear that the U.S. does “not tolerate discrimination based on religion or nationality.”
Coons says Trump’s travel ban “is not only discriminatory and counterproductive, it stands in direct contrast to the principles embedded in our Constitution and our founders’ vision of a nation where all people are free to worship as they choose. The court’s decision demonstrates that we have a long way to go before we live up to our highest ideals.”
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10:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump is tweeting “Wow!” after the Supreme Court upheld his travel ban from several mostly Muslim countries.
Trump tweeted Tuesday: “SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!”
The court rejected a challenge that the ban discriminated against Muslims or exceeded Trump’s authority. The 5-4 decision is the court’s first substantive ruling on a Trump administration policy.
Roberts wrote that presidents have substantial power to regulate immigration. He also rejected the challengers’ claim of anti-Muslim bias.
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10:20 a.m.
The Supreme Court has upheld 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 Tuesday is the court’s first substantive ruling on a Trump administration policy.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by his four conservative colleagues.
Roberts wrote that presidents have substantial power to regulate immigration.
The court may have signaled its eventual approval in December, when the justices allowed the policy to take full effect even as the court fight continued and lower courts had ruled it out of bounds.
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