Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee, who in January helped lead the nationwide protest against the implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order from JFK airport, released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow parts of the ban to go into effect pending the Court’s review in the fall:

“When the President signed his Executive Order in January, I knew that it was unconstitutional, discriminatory, and morally reprehensible. What I did not know was that people all over this country would join together to fight this outrageous policy, or that the courts would so quickly and effectively act as a check on the President’s power and block what I and so many believe is a xenophobic Muslim ban. That gave me great hope that our country, with its system of checks and balances, is equipped to handle the sort of crises President Trump seems so intent to regularly impose on our democracy. While I am greatly disappointed that the Supreme Court allowed part of the travel ban to go into effect during its review of the Executive Order, I am pleased that people with a connection to a U.S. individual or entity will continue to be admitted into the country during this period.

“The United States has always been, and must continue to be, a place of refuge that welcomes people of all religions and nationalities. It represents a beacon of hope for those fleeing persecution, and an example to the world of tolerance and inclusion. Yet the President has been adept at continuously striking at the nerve of these values with his behavior and rhetoric, which sheds a light on the type of country he hopes to create with these policies.

“The Executive Order—implementing a travel ban on persons from six majority-Muslim countries—will not make us safer, it weakens our standing in the world, and it runs contrary to our country’s moral and philosophical mission. Furthermore, the travel ban was supposed to be instituted for a 90-day period in order to conduct a review of our vetting procedures. We are now well past that 90-day period, meaning the Administration should have had substantial time to conduct its review, effectively making the Executive Order obsolete. In a signal of the true intentions of President Trump and his Administration, however, there have been no proposals and no concrete assessment of the fabricated threats used to justify this discriminatory policy.

“Both the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeal and the 4^th Circuit Court  have already ruled against the implementation of this Executive Order, and I remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will affirm the lower courts’ decisions that President Trump’s travel ban is unconstitutional and discriminatory, and will permanently strike it down. Regardless of the court’s decision, I will continue working to make sure our values and ideals are upheld no matter what.”

###