June, 26 2018, 12:00am EDT
SCOTUS Upholds Trump's Muslim Ban
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Trump's Muslim Ban. The decision upholds the President's authority over national security and immigration policy overall. In his decision, Chief Justice John Roberts refused to pass judgment on the soundness of the Muslim ban or the lawfulness of the President's past statements against Islam. Instead Chief Justice Roberts held that the justifications for the ban were a proper exercise of the President's foreign policy authority.
WASHINGTON
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Trump's Muslim Ban. The decision upholds the President's authority over national security and immigration policy overall. In his decision, Chief Justice John Roberts refused to pass judgment on the soundness of the Muslim ban or the lawfulness of the President's past statements against Islam. Instead Chief Justice Roberts held that the justifications for the ban were a proper exercise of the President's foreign policy authority. Hawaii was therefore unlikely to win its case at the lower court, making an injunction inappropriate at this time.
The ban continues to be in place.
New York Immigration Coalition Executive Director, Steven Choi, issued the following statement:
"Today's Supreme Court ruling enshrines bigotry into policy under the pretext of national security, and represents a blow to the very values this country was built on. America will not be greater or safer by turning our backs on our Muslim neighbors, friends, and family. We will continue to march in the streets, and fight back in the courts to protect the people who truly make America great."
The state of Hawaii argued that Trump's executive order exceeds his executive constitutional powers, illegally discriminates based on nationality, and violates religious freedom laws by specifically targeting Muslims -- an argument based on Trump's statements about a "Muslim ban." The administration claimed the president has broad powers over immigration policy and that the revised ban is appropriate given his constitutional authority on national security, not religion.
The New York Immigration Coalition will hold an emergency press conference TODAY
WHEN: TUESDAY, June 26th at 12:30pm
WHERE: Foley Square, New York, NY 10001
WHO: The New York Immigration Coalition, advocates, affected individuals
WHAT: Press conference on SCOTUS decision on Trump v. Hawaii.
The New York Immigration Coalition and MPower Change will also be holding a rally TONIGHT
WHEN: TUESDAY, June 26th at 6pm
WHERE: Foley Square, New York, NY 10001
WHO: The New York Immigration Coalition, MPower Change, Women's March, Arab American Association of New York, Yemeni American Merchants Association, CAIR-NY, MCN, advocates, affected individuals
WHAT: Rally in response SCOTUS decision on Trump v. Hawaii.
"In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that African Americans 'had no rights which the white man was bound to respect,'" said CAIR-NY Legal Director Albert Fox Cahn. "In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the imprisonment of more than 120,000 Americans for their Japanese ancestry. Today, that same court upheld President Trump's Muslim Ban. Like its predecessors Dredd Scott and Korematsu, today's decision was unjust. And like its predecessors, this ruling will be condemned by future generations as a betrayal of the promise of equality and justice for all. Today is certainly a setback, but history teaches us that the fight is far from over. Muslim activists and allies will continue to fight for justice however we can. We will continue to challenge discriminatory immigration policies, lobby against unconstitutional surveillance, and pursue those who commit acts of violence against their Muslim neighbors. Trump v. Hawaii, like Dred Scott and Korematsu before it, is now part of our history, but it is far from the last chapter."
"The Arab American Association of New York serves to empower and advocate for the Arab and Muslim community in New York. We are deeply saddened by the Supreme Court's ruling of the Muslim Ban, and enabling the administration's immoral, Islamophobic and unconstitutional policies. This is a direct attack on our community that has fled war-torn countries to find peace and prosperity and an attack on their basic right to religious freedom. This ruling puts our members at further risk, and feeds into the administration's inhumane immigration policies of separating families. We will continue to fight these policies and this SCOTUS decision day-in and day-out until all our immigrant communities are welcomed," said Rama Issa-Ibrahim, Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York.
"Today's US Supreme Court decision will go down in history where people 50 years from now will judge us by our actions. Let it be known regardless of the decision, we did everything in our power to defend the rights of our communities and we will continue to do so! We will win some and lose some, but our spirit of justice for everyone remains unwavering!" said Dr. Debbie Almontaser, Yemeni American Merchants Association.
Background
The NYIC has been leading the fight against the Muslim Ban since January, 2017 when the first Executive Order came out, with the #NoBanJFK movement, and assisting travelers from over 20 countries and organizing hundreds of lawyers and volunteers. The protests at JFK sparked actions across the nation, including a rally held in Battery Park the next day, which drew over 30,000 people. In July, the NYIC was back out at JFK to monitor the situation and provide legal assistance if necessary.
Watch the documentary: "48 Hours at JFK"
Trump's third iteration of the Muslim ban- which would seriously limited travel and emigration from Muslim-majority countries Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as, North Korea and some Venezuelan government officials- was issued on September 24th, 2017 and supposed to take effect October 18th, 2017. However, two federal judges issued temporary halts to the ban (preliminary injunctions), with the second judge issuing a 91-page ruling calling the ban an "inextricable re-animation of the twice-enjoined Muslim ban."
In December 2017, the US Supreme Court issued a preliminary injunction that allowed full enforcement of Trump's ban on travel from eight nations, six of which are Muslim-majority, while legal challenges proceed through the lower courts.
The bans against Venezuela and North Korea are not part of the challenge before the Supreme Court, and the administration removed Chad from the list on April 10th, 2018.
The New York Immigration Coalition aims to achieve a fairer and more just society that values the contributions of immigrants and extends opportunity to all. The NYIC promotes immigrants' full civic participation, fosters their leadership, and provides a unified voice and a vehicle for collective action for New York's diverse immigrant communities.
LATEST NEWS
Insulted by Trump's Threats, Iranian Negotiators Walk Out of Peace Talks
"Don’t they think that if their threats had worked, they wouldn’t have ended up in today’s desperate situation?" said Iran's chief negotiator.
Jun 21, 2026
US President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy Iran and send US forces to occupy the country on Sunday appear to have derailed peace negotiations in Switzerland, with the Iranian delegation reportedly walking out and demanding an apology.
Following Iran’s announcement that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again after Israel intensified its assault on Lebanon, Trump went on a tirade Sunday in which he threatened to assassinate negotiators and said Iran “won’t have a country” if access to the critical waterway was shut off, while also threatening to “take over” Iran with a full US invasion.
But after Trump’s threats—which broke the first clause of the memorandum of understanding—Iran’s negotiators filed a complaint with the Pakistani and Qatari mediators and stormed out of the mountain resort where talks were being held, according to several outlets.
While Trump clearly sought to project strength, Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said his team “do not take American threats seriously.”
In previous months, as Trump sought to squeeze concessions from the Iranians, he issued escalatory threats to wipe out their “whole civilization” and “blow up” the whole country. However, he did not act on those threats, even as Iran refused to budge from its negotiating posture.
"Don’t they think that if their threats had worked, they wouldn’t have ended up in today’s desperate situation?" Ghalibaf said.
Ghalibaf said the US had “better be more careful with their statements,” adding that “our armed forces are ready to respond in a different way." He said, “No matter what they say, we are the ones who act.
While the Iranian delegation left the venue, talks are reportedly continuing via mediators. However, according to the Lebanese outlet Al Mayadeen, the delegation said it will not return until Trump apologizes for his threats and Israel fully withdraws from Lebanon.
According to senior Israeli officials cited by Channel 12, Israel is reportedly considering “limited withdrawals” from Lebanon, including in areas within its so-called “buffer zone.” Despite Iranian claims, the officials said the US has not requested Israel’s withdrawal from the country.
Previous peace talks have been derailed by Trump’s threats to commit indiscriminate war crimes in Iran. But this past week has seen perhaps the most violent swing yet in his approach toward Iran.
Where earlier this week, Trump acknowledged Iran's right to enrich uranium and maintain a nuclear energy program like that of other nations, his outburst Sunday appeared to have been prompted by a statement by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who said the US would be "forced to accept" its right to enrichment.
And while Trump has raged against Israel’s actions in Lebanon while privately claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to sabotage peace, he has not taken concrete action to force Israel to comply with the memorandum’s terms.
"The mixed messages coming out of the White House," remarked Jeet Heer, a writer at The Nation, "are going to make it much harder to end the war, and could in fact spark further conflict."
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One expert said Israel's continued assault on Lebanon, which led Iran to announce its closure of the strait, posed an "existential threat" to the ceasefire.
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Rather than force Israel to halt its occupation in Lebanon in accordance with the memorandum of understanding, President Donald Trump on Sunday responded to Iran's announcement that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz with a new litany of psychotic threats—claiming that if the waterway were closed, he would blow up the country, launch a full ground invasion to take it over, and assassinate Iranian negotiators.
According to Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, Trump told the Iranian negotiators overnight that if they close the strait, which Iran claimed to have shuttered once again on Saturday, “you won’t have a country,” adding that they “won’t even make it back to their f***ing country,” in what appeared to be a threat to assassinate the negotiators, as happened during the initial phase of the war.
Responding to statements by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who said Iran would not give up its “right to enrich uranium” and that the US “will be forced to accept it,” Trump reportedly said Pezeshkian had better “watch his mouth” and “shape up,” or the US “will take over the rest of the country.”
It’s yet another sharp reversal from Trump, who—after months of claiming Iran must agree to “zero enrichment”—suddenly acknowledged this week that it was “common sense” for the nation to be allowed to have a nuclear energy program as other countries do.
Trump’s renewed threats against Iran, which mirror his genocidal threats earlier in the war to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization” and “blow up” the entire country, also appear to violate the first clause of the memorandum of understanding, which calls on signatories to “refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.”
The threat to fully occupy Iran, which Trump made publicly for the first time on Sunday, stands in sharp contrast to his comments that continuing the war for much longer would cause “economic catastrophe” and that even limited ground operations, such as one he had proposed to seize Iran’s uranium, would be too big an effort to be worth it.
The war with Iran is already deeply unpopular among the American public, even without US boots on the ground. Polls have shown that even a majority of Republicans would be opposed to Trump escalating the war by deploying ground troops, and military officials have shelved planned operations to occupy certain strategic locations, including Kharg Island, fearing a large number of American casualties.
Nevertheless, Trump also told Yingst that the US could become the “guardian angel” of the Strait of Hormuz, collecting tolls and taking oil from countries using the waterway for exports. He did not make clear how the US would gain control of the strait under such a scenario.
Iran announced that it would close the strait again on Saturday after Israel deepened its occupation and escalated its bombing of southern Lebanon, despite the MOU’s ceasefire agreement covering all fronts.
Iranian negotiators have described an end to Israel’s Lebanon occupation, which has killed more than 4,000 people and forced more than 1.2 million Lebanese civilians from their homes in the south, as a red line for negotiating peace.
Behind the scenes, Trump has acknowledged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using Lebanon to sabotage the ceasefire and drag the US back into a full-scale war.
In the phone call with Yingst, Trump once again said he was “disappointed Israel can’t put Hezbollah away,” adding that Israel “can’t do anything without knocking buildings down.” He also said he was close to allowing Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa—the former leader of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate—to take over the operation against Hezbollah.
While this is yet another instance of Trump using harsher rhetoric toward Israel—which Vice President JD Vance has also done in recent days—there is no indication yet that he is willing to take the next step of forcing Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire agreement by imposing material consequences, such as suspending military aid.
Even as Israel’s attacks continued unabated and threatened to derail the deal entirely, Vance did not indicate that he thought the US needed to exert more pressure.
“I think Trump and the US have done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any government anywhere in the world,” he said at a press conference in Switzerland on Sunday.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, described Israel’s continued escalations as “an existential threat” to the peace process between the US and Iran.
He told ABC News on Saturday that Iran’s threat to close the strait just before a meeting in Geneva this weekend was meant to be “part of a background of how serious they are” about ensuring that the US understands the stakes if Israel refuses to withdraw.
“Israel would prefer for this war to continue until you have a complete defeat of the Iranians, which, of course, is not in the cards,” Parsi said. “The Israelis sold this war to Trump as a quick, easy fix to the region’s problems that would take no more than four days, and they were dead wrong.”
“Now, Trump is recognizing that US interests necessitate that he pull out of this war and strikes this deal, but the Israelis are trying to sabotage it because they are afraid they’re going to be left out, that the balance in the region is going to shift against their interests,” he added. “They’re willing to essentially jeopardize their relationship with the United States over this.”
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to announce as soon as Monday that he will resign, according to new reports, as Labour supporters abandon the party.
But many on the left remain skeptical that his likely replacement, Andy Burnham, will truly bring the "change" he promises.
Britain's Observer newspaper reported on Saturday that the prime minister appeared "resigned" to stepping down, well aware that "support isn't there" for his continued leadership amid the party's dismal unpopularity.
Though Starmer swept away nearly a decade and a half of Conservative rule in 2024, his honeymoon has been short-lived. His embrace of austerity in the face of a cost-of-living crisis and his government's ferocious crackdowns on pro-Palestinian speech have left progressive supporters seeking alternatives like the ascendant Green Party.
Meanwhile, his hard-right pivot on immigration has done little to siphon votes from Brexiteer Nigel Farage's far-right Reform UK party, which currently leads in national polls.
The immediate trigger for Starmer's reported resignation was Burnham's victory in Thursday's Makerfield by-election, which marked the former mayor of Greater Manchester's return to Westminster. Burnham comfortably defeated a Reform UK candidate, and The Guardian reported that he was expected to have support from about 200 Labour MPs in a leadership challenge against Starmer.
Burnham emphasized during a victory rally that it was "a last chance to change" Labour as it heads for electoral oblivion.
Responding to what he said were requests from constituents to "do something to make life more affordable," Burnham called for an end to "trickle down economics," with government interventions to bring down utility bills and rail fares, public procurement of businesses, pushes for reindustrialization, and job guarantees for people ages 16 to 18.
But some leaders on the British left have warned that Burnham will do little to deviate from Starmer's failures.
While he has pledged to reverse Starmer's welfare cuts and privatizations of public services, Burnham has also committed to maintaining the party's spending limits, which may make significant changes impossible.
Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, who led the Labour Party from 2015-20, said that while he personally likes Burnham, "his basic economic strategy and views... seem to me to be accepting too much of the austerity that we've had imposed upon us."
The ex-leader also said Burnham "doesn't appear to be doing anything different internationally," noting that he has not given a straight answer on whether Britain should conduct an inquiry into the UK government's policy on Gaza and its supply of weapons to Israel.
Burnham has also drawn criticism for saying he would maintain Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has spearheaded hard-line changes to UK asylum policies and has enforced the repressive ban on Palestine Action, which has led to the arrest of thousands of nonviolent protesters, many of whom have been charged with terrorism.
"The architect of Labour’s cruel plans on settled status and persecution of free speech and protest stays in place," said Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who said it was a sign of "more of the same."
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