A Civil and Human Rights Win – Block on Muslim Ban Stands
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 25, 2017 ― Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, VA refused to lift the injunction on President Trump’s “Muslim Ban 2.0” executive order saying it “drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination” – an argument that Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice), an affiliation of five civil rights organizations, has espoused since the first Muslim ban executive order caused international chaos and harm to Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian communities.
Advancing Justice released a statement following the court’s ruling:
“Today the majority of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit saw through the hollow national security claims of this administration and struck a blow to those who seek to criminalize and demonize individuals on the basis of religion, ethnicity, and national origin.
Advancing Justice is pleased to note the court did not allow fear-mongering and propaganda to overcome the basic civil and human rights that immigrants and refugees should be afforded. We commend the court for not repeating the shameful moments in history that led to the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and saw nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II.
Today is a victorious moment in which the court refused to sanction the government’s blatant discrimination and open hostility toward immigrants and refugees. However, the fight is not over and we will continue to stay vigilant particularly to any future efforts to Ban Muslims through backdoor policies such as overly broad and discriminatory visa procedures and screening for Muslim communities.”
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