Amnesty International on Tuesday blasted the Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld President Trump ’s travel ban, saying that the policy „has no place“ in…
Amnesty International on Tuesday blasted the Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld President Trump ’s travel ban, saying that the policy „has no place“ in the civilized world.
“This hateful policy is a catastrophe all around — not only for those who simply want to travel, work, or study here in the States, but for those seeking safety from violence as well,“ the leading human rights organization said in a statement . „While this decision doesn’t address the separate and equally harmful ban on refugees, it cruelly traps people in conflict-afflicted countries and prevents them from seeking safety in the U. S. or being reunited with family.
„Some of the people banned from this policy are fleeing conflicts that the United States has had a direct hand in creating or perpetuating, as is the case in Yemen and Syria. In those cases especially we are essentially lighting a house on fire and locking the escape door shut. This ban, and the anti-Muslim sentiment in which it originated, has no place in a country that claims to value human rights.”
The statement came shortly after the Supreme Court upheld Trump’s travel ban that prohibits individuals from five Muslim-majority countries from entering the U. S. The countries include Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen.
Amnesty International has been highly critical of Trump’s travel ban since it was first implemented through executive order. In the group’s annual audit of human rights around the world earlier this year, it said that the order was „transparently hateful.“
In addition to Amnesty International, Democratic lawmakers and other organizations quickly condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that history would judge the U. S. harshly for the ruling. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said that upholding the ban gave „legitimacy to discrimination and Islamaphobia.“
