A Supreme Court decision to uphold Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban has been met with outrage as protests erupted in the US.
Protesters from a number of activist groups gathered outside the court for a large demo following the ruling, which the US leader hailed a “tremendous” success, on Tuesday.
Voicing their dismay at the decision, activists chanting and holding signs that read “no ban, no wall” were also seen crowded in a park opposite the federal courthouse in Manhattan.
It comes after America’s top court rejected a challenge that the ban discriminated against Muslims or exceeded the president’s authority by a 5-4 majority.
A number of organisations released statements calling for public resistance against the travel restrictions almost immediately after decision was announced yesterday.
Mr Trump’s highly controversial policy applies to travellers from five countries with overwhelmingly Muslim populations: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
Speaking at the White House following the court’s ruling on Tuesday, the US leader said: “Today’s Supreme Court ruling just coming out [is] a tremendous success, a tremendous victory for the American people and for our constitution.
He added: “We have to be tough and we have to be safe and we have to be secure. At a minimum we have to make sure that we vet people coming into the country… We just have to know who’s coming here.”
The ban, which targets people from several majority-Muslim countries, had attracted heavy criticism from refugee and human rights groups and from other world leaders.
Oxfam America said it was "dismayed" that the court upheld the ban.
Read More
Noah Gottschalk, of the Boston-based charitable organisation, said the decision upholds an "un-American" policy that "institutionalises" religious discrimination and sends a signal the world the US "no longer believes the fundamental tenet that all people are created equal."
John Robbins, head of the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said separately that allowing the travel ban to stand impacts the state's education and health care sectors since many professors, doctors and researchers hail from the affected countries.
The Women’s March is expected host a "day of action" outside of Baltimore City Hall in Maryland on Wednesday.
The demonstration’s Facebook page called for those attending to engage “nonviolently and in accordance with the law, to work to de-escalate confrontations with others, and to obey the orders of authorized event marshals and of law enforcement.”
Demonstrations in response to Mr Trump’s immigration policies have already been planned for his visit to Britain which will come in July.
