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June 26, 2018

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the Trump administration’s third Muslim ban. The American Civil Liberties Union and partner organizations have challenged every version of the ban. Like previous versions, this one blocks immigrants and temporary visitors from several Muslim-majority countries.

Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, had this reaction to today’s decision:

“This ruling will go down in history as one of the Supreme Court’s great failures. It repeats the mistakes of the Korematsu decision upholding Japanese-American imprisonment and swallows wholesale government lawyers’ flimsy national security excuse for the ban instead of taking seriously the president’s own explanation for his action.  

“It is ultimately the people of this country who will determine its character and future. The court failed today, and so the public is needed more than ever. We must make it crystal clear to our elected representatives: If you are not taking actions to rescind and dismantle Trump’s Muslim ban, you are not upholding this country’s most basic principles of freedom and equality.”

International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Maryland, National Immigration Law Center, and the International Refugee Assistance Project, on behalf of HIAS, IRAP, the Middle East Studies Association, Yemeni American Merchants Association, and the Arab American Association of New York.