Americans United: U.S. Supreme Court Should Rule Against President Trump's Unconstitutional Muslim Ban

Today the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the lawsuits challenging President Donald J. Trump's executive order restricting travel from several Muslim-majority countries. The Court has also allowed the Muslim ban to go into effect for people without ties to the United States.

"Allowing the ban to take even partial effect opens the door to discrimination based on religion - which is at odds with our laws, history, traditions and common sense," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"The Supreme Court must decide whether it will be on the right or the wrong side of history," said Lynn. "We expect that when the high court hears this case, the justices will come to the same conclusion that multiple federal courts have reached: This ban is unconstitutional because it singles out Muslims for disfavor based solely on religion."

Continued Lynn: "Religious freedom - the right to believe or not as one sees fit, without the threat of discrimination - is a fundamental American value. This ban flagrantly violates that right."

Americans United had filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the federal appeals courts in International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump and State of Hawai`i v. Trump. AU's briefs were joined by Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice; the Southern Poverty Law Center; Christian clergy members; and The Riverside Church in New York City.

Americans United also represents the plaintiffs in Universal Muslim Association of America v. Trump, a lawsuit we filed with our allies Muslim Advocates, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. UMAA v. Trump focuses on how the ban harms the American Muslim community. More information on our efforts to fight the Muslim ban is available here.