JCPA Deeply Disappointed with Supreme Court Decision Upholding Travel Ban

New York, NY – The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) is deeply disappointed with today’s 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Hawaii upholding the Administration’s “travel ban” barring immigrants and visitors from five Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for an indefinite period of time. The ban has been in effect since December 2017. JCPA has opposed this policy since its first iteration, concerned about the ban’s discriminatory nature and the suffering it would inflict on both American citizens and those seeking refuge in the United States.

“In its ruling today, the Supreme Court affirmed the President’s authority to implement a policy motivated by religious bias. We call on Congress to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to revoke the President’s authority to advance a policy inimical to our values. It is our obligation to work to change policies that may be legal, but still unjust and immoral,” David Bernstein, President and CEO of JCPA.

The Jewish people know firsthand the consequences of turning away those fleeing persecution.  Based on our own immigrant experience and Judaism’s imperative to welcome the stranger, JCPA has advocated for more than 70 years on behalf of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. We publicly stated our opposition and signed on to amicus briefs in court cases challenging the travel bans. Most recently, JCPA joined the Anti-Defamation League and several other Jewish groups in filing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold lower court rulings that blocked the President’s prohibition on travel to the United States from six majority-Muslim nations.