On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United States rule, 5 to 4, in favor of the Trump administration’s travel ban, which stops people from many Muslim-countries from entering the U.S. The ruling played out along partisan lines in which Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the conservative majority that Trump’s travel ban was “within the scope of Presidential authority.”
“This is a dark day for America,” Rep. Barbara Lee, (D-Calif.) said in a statement after the ruling.” The Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Hawaii betrays our constitution and advances fear, rather than facts. Despite the ruling today, my colleagues and I will keep fighting against the Trump administration’s bigoted, Islamophobic agenda. We are not alone and we are not without hope.”
The travel ban, which was drawn up last September, prohibits travelers from Chad, Iran, Lybia, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen from entering the U.S., The Guardian reported. While Sudan is no longer on the list and Iraqi citizens will encounter “additional scrutiny,” but are no longer banned, the majority of the countries have Muslim majorities, Salon reported.
But Justice Roberts “rejected the challengers’ claim that the policy was driven by anti-Muslim bias,” according to Salon. With Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan voted against the travel ban, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent that “a reasonable observer would conclude that the Proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus.” She also called out the five conservative justices for “ignoring the facts, misconstruing our legal precedent, and turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering the Proclamation inflicts upon countless families and individuals, many of whom are United States citizens.”
Donald Trump called the Supreme Court’s ruling a moment of profound vindication.”
While the Trump administration see the SCOTUS’ decision a “tremendous victory,” the American Civil Liberties Union said this is “not the first time the Court has been wrong, or has allowed official racism and xenophobia to continue rather than standing up to it.”
Many Representatives and human rights organizations vow to fight this ruling by calling on communities to rally together to “ensure that Trump’s shameful policy is repealed by Congress.”
“I am deeply disappointed that this ruling gives legitimacy to discrimination and Islamophobia,” Rep. Keith Ellison, (D-Minn.), said. “Like the Korematsu decision that upheld Japanese internment camps or Plessy v. Ferguson that established ‘separate but equal,’ this decision will someday serve as a marker of shame.”
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