Washington, DC – The following is a statement from Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, following today’s Supreme Court decision in Trump vs. State of Hawai’i – the lawsuit against President Trump’s long-promised, and unpopular, Muslim Ban. Muslim Advocates is co-hosting an action at the Supreme Court to respond to this ruling at 11:45 AM ET.:

“In affirming President Trump’s bigoted Muslim Ban, the Supreme Court has given a green light to religious discrimination and animus.   Not since key decisions on slavery, segregation in schools, and Japanese American incarceration, have we seen a decision that so clearly fails to protect those most vulnerable to government-led discrimination.  Trump may have won this round, but we are focused on the next round and will continue to fight until justice prevails and his anti-Muslim agenda is overturned for good.

Since the Muslim Ban was allowed to go into effect late last year, the administration has separated families and loved ones; and denied people opportunities to work, travel, study, seek medical care, and better our nation, simply because of what they believe and where they come from.

This decision puts the basic rights of all Americans at risk. It says that even when an administration is clearly anti-Muslim, when it targets Muslims, when it insults Muslims, and when it puts a policy in place that specifically hurts Muslims – that the Court will let it stand. If it can happen to Muslims, it can happen to anyone.

Today’s decision is deeply disappointing, but our work is far from done.  But this is just one fight in a broader battle against Trump’s anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant agenda.  We will continue to fight for the lives still imperiled by this reckless ruling. We will continue to fight in the courts, we will urge our members of Congress to serve as a meaningful check on the administration, and we will speak out online, and in our communities to declare that this Ban is a shameful betrayal of our nation’s commitment to equal protection under the law for all.”

Background information regarding Muslim Advocates work against the Muslim Ban:

Muslim Advocates has filed eight lawsuits against the Trump administration regarding the Muslim Ban, including the first major lawsuit against Muslim Ban 3.0, Iranian Alliances Across Borders v. Trump, which resulted in a preliminary injunction against the ban.

The organization has also filed nine amicus briefs in various courts opposing the ban, multiple Freedom of Information Act requests to expose more information about how the ban was developed and is being implemented, and recently released a report analyzing the effects and implications of the ban and the great lengths that the administration has taken to circumvent the Constitution.  New Muslim Advocates- Probolsky Research polling documents the unpopularity of the Ban among voters.

Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.

 

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