Muslim Travel Ban and the Dark Cloud of Bigotry
The Supreme Court on partisan lines has upheld the travel ban. By a vote of 5-4, the justices rejected a challenge to President Trump’s September 2017 order – often referred to as the “Muslim travel ban” – restricting immigration to the United States by citizens of eight countries, most (but not all) of which are predominantly Muslim.
This ruling is no different than the 1944 Supreme Court decision that upheld the internment of Japanese American. In the decision, the majority of conservative judges believe that the President has a sweeping statutory authority and his decisions based on national security are within his constitutional rights.
National security is the mantra that gives the President absolute power to impose whatever policy he deems fit to secure national interests.
The implications of this decision are far-reaching.
- The president now has the backing of the judiciary branch to include more countries in the list of travel ban countries.
- The President can revoke the naturalized citizenship of any legal resident anytime under the pretext of national security.
- The President can declare any community or a country a threat to the people of the United States.
- The President can ban any religion under the pretext of danger to the people of the United States.
The decision, in fact, expands the power and authority of the President beyond the known constitutional process. It relegates the house and senate to a debating club without any authority to legislate because the President has the authority to question any legislation to secure national interests.
This is the rise of dictatorship on the ashes of democracy and no one really knows how the events would unfold the future political drama in our country.
The Supreme Court decision is made by judges who are supposed to be nonpartisan and secular, but it is difficult to believe that their views are not impacted by a biased religious and political ideology.
In the current Supreme Court, there are five Catholics, three Jews, and one Protestant even though he is not loud about his religious affiliation. The Catholics are chief justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor. The Jewish justices are Ruther Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kgan. Neil Gorsuch is an Episcopalian. As a point of interest since its inception in 1789, the Supreme Court has had 91 Protestant judges out of 113 judges.
Justices ruling against the travel ban:
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Stephen Breyer
- Elena Kagan
Justices ruling in favor of the travel ban:
- John Roberts
- Anthony Kennedy
- Clarence Thomas
- Samuel Alito
- Neil Gorsuch
The judges are not selected on party or religious lines. However, the possibility of their religious and ideological biases may impact their decision. The travel ban decision seems to emerge from this hypothetical belief that the current Islamophobic propaganda created by the right-wing Christian evangelical political groups close to the Republican party and especially to the President might have impacted the conservative judges who are usually more inclined to take positions that in the past have favored the conservatives and Republicans.
Indeed, this decision is one of the most troubling in modern American history with far-reaching consequences for the generations to come. The 1944 supreme court decision upholding the internment of Japanese still haunt the Japanese and the ethnic and religious minorities. This current decision also has the potential to be a nightmare for Muslims and other religious minorities who do not endorse the Republican or Trump agenda in the near future.
This decision will be seen by the generations to come as a form of legalized Islamophobia and under this decision, Muslims would face, a situation that might pale the Japanese internment.
We are seeing around the world the rise of white supremacy and evangelical Christian influence who view every nonwhite Christian or non-Christian as a threat to Western Civilization and our country, America, is taking the leadership role. We see this in the treatment of people arriving at our Southern borders and the barbaric separation of children from parents.
When race and religion are combined to promote an agenda of supremacy, nothing but persecution and violations of basic human rights occur through a process the perpetrators call legal.
Sad day in our country's history!
Thankfully we still have voices in our nation that are standing up and demanding justice.
ACLU: SCOTUS has upheld Trump’s Muslim ban. 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. History has its eyes on us — and will judge today’s decision harshly. #NoMuslimBanEver
Asian Law Caucus: This decision, like those of Dred Scott & Korematsu in the past, will go down as a stain on our nation's history. But the fight for religious freedom does not end here. We will continue to fight & pursue legal avenues on behalf of our Muslim communities. #NoMuslimBanEver
National Immigration Law Center: Today's ruling is another shameful mark on our history. We cannot accept living in a country that willingly separates families and calls it justice. #NoMuslimBanEver
Dr. Craig Considine: The Statue of Liberty reads: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddle masses yearning to breathe free." Question for the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) - where does it say anything about a person's faith? I stand with Muslims today, tomorrow, next week, forever. #NoMuslimBanEver
JewishAction: Our hearts are broken by today's ruling on the Muslim Ban. As Jews, we've seen this before. Scapegoating based on religion, restricting travel, families separated by borders—NO. We MUST speak up now. History will judge this ruling harshly. #StandWithMuslims #NoMuslimBanEver
Rep. Joe Kennedy III: President Trump’s hateful rhetoric cannot be separated from his harmful policies. For all of the White House’s efforts to justify this #MuslimBan, @POTUS has emphatically & enthusiastically detailed that his fear of one religion guided his decision. #NoMuslimBanEver