JACL Discouraged by Supreme Court Decision
JACL Discouraged by Supreme Court Decision
Contact: Stephanie Nitahara, Interim Executive Director, snitahara@jacl.org
Jeffrey Moy, Vice President of Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org
The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) continues to oppose the administration’s discriminatory travel ban from six Muslim-majority countries and is discouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow a limited version of the travel ban to be implemented starting as early as Thursday, June 29th until hearing an appeal by the White House in October.
The ruling prevents people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the United States unless they have a “bona fide” relationship with the United States. Examples that the justices provide to explain who may enter the U.S. from the aforementioned countries include close relatives of a U.S. citizen, students who have been accepted to a U.S. university, and those who are employed by a U.S. business.
We are disappointed that any piece of this racist and xenophobic executive order was upheld by the Supreme Court, particularly since this decision was made prior to hearing the case. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and 4th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift the hold on the administration’s travel ban was the correct decision to protect against the religious and racial discrimination this ban seeks to uphold.
JACL will continue to oppose any legislation based on race or religious discrimination and supports the rights of immigrants and those fleeing areas of oppression to make a better life for themselves. We must remain vigilant in our fight against fear and hate based policies.
