In a 5-4 ruling on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump's travel ban on residents of seven countries.
In the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court ruled that Trump "had not exceeded his authority" with last year's travel ban proclamation, in which he restricted entry to the U.S. by citizens of Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Somalia and certain government officials from Venezuela. The ban, the third version in Trump's attempt to pass legal muster, also initially imposed travel restrictions on citizens of Chad, but the U.S. State Department lifted those earlier this year.
Roberts wrote that the proclamation "is expressly premised on legitimate purposes: preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices." In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that Trump's words and tweets both before and after his election, including his pre-election call for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," show the ban was based in violation of religious liberty. "This repackaging does little to cleanse [the proclamation] of the appearance of discrimination that the President's words have created," she wrote. "Based on the evidence in the record, a reasonable observer would conclude that the proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus."
Travel Industry Reaction
Global Business Travel Association executive director and COO Michael McCormick said the travel bans have had a demonstrable effect on the industry, including a loss of more than $185 million in business travel bookings within a week of the announcement of the first ban. While the later, narrower bans had lesser initial impacts, about a quarter of the 164 U.S. travel buyers/GBTA members that GBTA polled last week said the travel bans have driven at least some reduction in travel by their companies. And 37 percent expect reductions going forward in light of the Supreme Court's affirmation of the ban. Similarly, 31 percent of the 133 European GBTA members polled said the bans have driven reductions in travel. And 38 percent said the bans have reduced their willingness to plan meetings and events in the U.S.
"GBTA is deeply concerned about the long-term impact of these survey results and the global perception of doing business with the United States," McCormick wrote. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and as the United States changes its policies about inbound travel, others are likely to do the same."
The administration's tone on immigration also remains a concern for travel industry leaders. More than half the U.S. GBTA members surveyed said they had concerns about increased travel harassment due to the Trump administration's "policies and messaging on travel and immigration."
Association of Corporate Travel Executives executive director Greeley Koch said: “This is a disappointing decision on the part of the Supreme
Court and a setback for the principles underlying the global economy. ACTE is concerned by the implications for a healthy business
environment that relies on the critical economic inputs and outputs from both
workers and tourists coming into the U.S. from all corners of the globe. This
move fails to reduce the uncertainty that has, over the past year and a half,
hindered business travelers’ productivity and efficiency."
U.S. Travel Association EVP for public affairs Jonathan Grella hopes the Supreme Court ruling will enable "a coherent and durable set of policies" by the Trump administration, and he urged a conciliatory tone. "The economic stakes around strong and healthy international travel are too high—and speak too squarely to the president's priorities of growing exports, jobs and the GDP—for the welcome message not to become a featured part of the administration's calculus."
The U.S. travel industry has pushed back against Trump's immigration policies lately, as well. Prior to Trump's reversal of his policy to separate immigrant children and their parents last week, most major U.S. air carriers issued statements that they would not let the government use their flights to transport children away from their families.