Impact felt in Detroit as Supreme Court upholds Trump travel ban

(WJBK) - President Donald Trump took a break from a meeting about funding the wall to relish his US Supreme Court victory in the highly controversial travel ban case Tuesday.

"A tremendous success, a tremendous victory for the American people and for our Constitution," Trump said.

The justices reversed lower court decisions and upheld the president's policy in a five-four ruling along party lines.

Chief Justice John Roberts is not commenting on the policy itself but saying the president has authority to enact it.

"It's not a Muslim ban and those that want to focus it as a Muslim ban just want to make hay against this administration," said Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski.

Veteran and former State Rep. Rocky Raczkowski calls it the right decision - saying the policy is a matter of national security and secures the borders.

"The seven countries that were focused on this travel ban cannot prove that the citizens are individuals who don't want to do us harm," he said. "We are a nation and a nation has borders and we have to protect our borders."

The policy bans immigration from mostly majority Muslim countries - Syria, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, North Korea and Venezuela. But Civil Rights activists and attorneys along with liberal justices on the high court - say it's discriminatory.

"We don't think it's really about making America safer just like we don't think the deportation going on splitting up families and having children in cages, is really about making America safer," said Dawud Walid. "It is really just a white nationalist type of policy."

Walid heads the Council on American Islamic Relations. He and other activists point to Trump's own comments on the campaign trail as proof the policy is aimed at keeping Muslims out of the country.

"Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," Trump said at the time. He also said this in a CNN interview:  "I think Islam hates us."

Huge protests emerged nationwide following the initial travel ban, attorneys who've sued over the policy say the Supreme Court's ruling impacts children, families, from war-torn Syria and Yemen. People blocked from finding safety and relief in the US. Also impacted they say, are students, professors and doctors who won't be able to bring their talents to America.

"It's a sad day for America," said Shereef Akeel, an attorney who filed a lawsuit over the travel ban. "It sends shockwaves around the world that America is hostile towards a religion - which it is not - but that's the message that resonates right now. And it's resonating around the world. And that's unfortunate."

Activists with CAIR and the ACLU have scheduled a rally at Campus Martius Tuesday evening.