The Supreme Court is poised to rule on the latest iteration of President Donald Trump’s travel ban this week in a case that is being watched closely by the travel industry.
Reuters reports that the ruling will be issued as the court winds down its nine-month term. The case is one of several important ones currently before the court, including one on whether non-union workers have to pay fees to unions representing certain public sector workers. Last week the court issued a ruling allowing states to force online companies to collect sales tax on purchases from residents.
The Supreme Court has allowed full enforcement of the current version of the travel ban since December, when it issued an order allowing the policy to go through ahead of its hearing the case. This latest version of the travel ban is the third iteration of the policy, which was issued in late September. It applies to North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, dropping Sudan, which had been included in earlier versions of the order. Chad was also removed from the travel ban in April after officials in the Trump administration said it had “improved its identity-management and information sharing practices.”
"Security adjustments rooted in legitimate concerns will always be a fact of life for travelers,” said U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President for Public Affairs Jonathan Grella of the new policy when it was first released. “It's essential that changes be clearly communicated and that there be both an incentive and a pathway for affected countries to bring themselves back into compliance, and the Department of Homeland Security and State Department have been doing a good job checking those boxes.
"The American travel community continues to feel that both security and economic objectives could benefit from a clear message that these policy moves are tailored to specific issues. The world needs to know that they are not intended to discourage travel generally, and that legitimate business and leisure travelers are as welcome as ever in the United States," Grella said.
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