In response to the Supreme Court’s decision this morning, Jobs With Justice Executive Director Sarita Gupta issued the following statement:
“We are devastated by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Trump v. Hawaii case. This decision allows the travel ban targeting Muslims to be the law of our land. The verdict enables the hate-based politics of a few to be the official policy over the many who value dignity, liberty, and freedom.
“Justice Sotomayor’s dissent rings loud in our ears today: ‘The United States of America is a Nation built upon the promise of religious liberty. Our Founders honored that core promise by embedding the principle of religious neutrality in the First Amendment. The Court’s decision today fails to safeguard that fundamental principle.’
“Trump’s election, and his travel ban, have exacerbated Islamaphobic attacks on Muslim communities in this country. Many perpetrators of hate crimes against Muslims have invoked Trump’s name, his policies, or his campaign slogans during their attacks. The Supreme Court’s decision will encourage these perpetrators to continue and further rationalize their hateful, xenophobic behaviors.
“Muslims are one of the many communities under attack by the Trump administration. The president has waged a full-scale war on immigrants, from ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and temporary protected status (TPS), to ordering mass deportations. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly each defended a policy of separating children from their parents; and the President of the United States openly dehumanized undocumented Americans by calling them “animals.” We will continue to resist Trump’s anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-Black, white supremacist agenda.
“Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” We must band together and recommit to combating attacks against freedom and humanity. We must fight back now more than ever and stand up against racial injustice and oppression everywhere, and save our nation’s soul. We urge you to join us today in denouncing this decision.”
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