The US Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban on visitors from five Muslim-majority countries.
The apex court rejected arguments that the ban was prompted by discrimination against Muslims.
Trump has reacted to the ruling.
“SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!,” he wrote on Twitter.
The 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts found that the president has the authority to set such travel restrictions and dismissed claims of anti-Muslim bias.
The ban “is expressly premised on legitimate purposes: preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices,” Roberts wrote.
“The text says nothing about religion.”
However, Roberts did not endorse Trump’s controversial comments during the presidential campaign about immigration and Muslims.
In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said judging the case by the facts “a reasonable observer would conclude that the Proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus.”
Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan joined Sotomayor in the dissent.
Trump established the ban in an executive order that limited travel into the United States from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen.
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