It is a sad week for religious liberty.
On Tuesday, June 26, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision upheld President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban nationals from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, North Korea, and Venezuela from entering the U.S.
In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the president has the right to bar entry to aliens to prevent any harm to the country’s national security. He also asserted the ban does not target, or discriminate, based on religion or race, and it just so happens to be coincidental that six of the countries banned are of a Muslim-majority.
But make no mistake: The “travel ban” is a Muslim ban.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise as the president himself has a long history of making disparaging anti-Muslim remarks under the guise of protecting national security.
And justices, politicians, celebrities, and American citizens are using their platforms to call the ban what it is: religious discrimination.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented that it is clearly evident that Trump’s ban was driven by his Islamophobic beliefs.
“Taking all the relevant evidence together, a reasonable observer would conclude that the proclamation was driven primarily by anti-Muslim animus, rather than by the government’s asserted national-security justifications,” Sotomayor wrote.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, also refers to this immigration policy as a “Muslim ban. “I call it a Muslim ban, because Trump called it a Muslim ban.”
Several other public officials joined Ellison’s sentiments and in his word choice. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) also expressed disappointment in the SCOTUS ruling.
The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert used humor to point out SCOTUS’ obliviousness.
SCOTUS failed to honestly, justly address Trump’s Islamophobia.
It not only goes against true American values, but it diminishes the detrimental conditions this policy puts on people.
Referring to this policy as a “travel ban” merely suggests that the country are just barring tourists from entering the country. This ban is stripping families apart, in some cases, leaving relatives stranded in homes destroyed by airstrikes, or sometimes, to die in countries ravaged by war. And as the evidence shows, most of these countries are devastated by wars and armed conflict the U.S. has either initiated or been involved in.
Words matter. And even if SCOTUS will allow it, American won’t let this slide.
