The Supreme Court ignited a firestorm on Monday when it upheld a controversial Trump administration immigration policy. The critics have a point, but their ire is aimed in the wrong direction.

A slim majority of the justices ruled 5-4 to uphold the “public charge” rule, which gives immigration authorities the right to deny visas to would-be legal immigrants who they suspect might end up on welfare and deny continued legal status to immigrants who currently reside in the United States and make use of welfare programs. Critics have blasted the Supreme Court for this ruling — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called it “shameful” — but this blame is misplaced. The justices simply ruled on whether the law permits the policy (I’ll leave that debate to the lawyers), and the court’s decision to uphold it doesn’t imply that the conservative justices actually support or endorse the policy in any way.