Rep. Ellison Statement on the Supreme Court's Muslim Ban Announcement

Statement

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement after the Supreme Court announced it will hear President Trump's Muslim ban in October and that portions of the ban can go into effect:

"With the addition of Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court has greenlighted portions of Donald Trump's Muslim ban to temporarily go into effect. Unfortunately, this Supreme Court has set the cause of 'liberty and justice for all' backwards. The Trump Court is reminiscent of the Supreme Courts which delivered the Korematsu decision, which upheld Japanese internment, the Plessy v. Ferguson Court, which upheld the doctrine of Separate but Equal, and Dred Scott v. Sanford, which declared Blacks have 'no rights which Whites are bound to respect'.

"The United States has long stood as the place where people can better their lives -- especially those fleeing horrific conditions. Students, workers, or people with relatives in the United States may not be denied entry. But what of the family in the rubble of Raqqa or the children who've lost their parents to the cruelty of war? And the people waiting months and years to find a better life for themselves in our "Land of the Free?'

"Our country has taken this path before. We have turned away countless people because of their nationality or their religion. History is instructive and has taught us that religious or national quotas and bans do not keep America safe, but they do lead to unnecessary death and suffering by those seeking refuge at borders.

"Donald Trump called for a Muslim ban in December 2015 for one reason: to sow fear in Americans so he could win an election. And while his first and second Muslim ban executive orders were struck down by other courts, I hope the Supreme Court overturns this order in the coming months. We must rise above this new, sanctioned discrimination. Let us be guided by the recognition that every human life has value and that our country does better when we take in those fleeing the worst conditions imaginable."

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