ST. LOUIS — A deeply divided Supreme Court upheld President Trump's immigration travel ban against predominantly Muslim countries Tuesday as a legitimate exercise of executive branch authority.
The 5-4 ruling reverses a series of lower court decisions that had struck down the ban as Illegal or unconstitutional.
The International Institute of St. Louis said the Supreme Court’s decision is disappointing.
And the International Institute said a lot of those families were still holding out hope they'd be reunited with their loved ones... that hope is fading.
"This is a very tough time for the clients that we serve,” Blake Hamilton said.
Since 2010, the International Institute has resettled more than 1,300 refugees from Syria, Iran, Somalia and Yemen — all countries covered by this ban.
"Over the course of the next few days we'll see more people coming in to inquire about what it means for their families,” Hamilton said.
He said he's been preparing refugee families for this outcome, the Supreme Court upholding President Donald Trump's travel ban, and with it the reality they won't see their relatives anytime soon.
"As long as the ban's in place those people from those countries will not be able to reunify with their loved ones here in the United States,” he said.
Those countries are Syria, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Venezuela and North Korea. That's different than the Trump administration's original list.
"The court is really saying if this is a Muslim ban it's a not a very good one because a Muslim country was taken off the list and Venezuela, a non-Muslim country was included on the list,” Law professor Richard Middleton said.
He said the Supreme Court's decision is a big win for the power of the presidency, but it's not an all-out win.
"Because the president didn't get through his initial executive order. He had to significantly revise and water down his initial executive order to pass constitutional muster,” he said.
But even the watered-down version is disappointing for those who want to help refugees.
"These folks are very well vetted as part of the standard process, so the threat that they present to this country is none,” Hamilton said.
