USA: Return to bigoted anti-Muslim travel ban would cause immeasurable harm

“President Trump’s travel ban order separated families and sent a message of bigotry and intolerance,” said Joanne Mariner, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International. “This harmful and discriminatory ban deserves the most probing judicial scrutiny.”Joanne Mariner, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International.

The first executive order was only in effect for a week before it was blocked on a nationwide basis by a federal court in Seattle, a ruling that was upheld on appeal. Even during that brief period, the order succeeded in wreaking havoc on people’s lives. Revisions to the original order have not alleviated the confusion.

“This order was a blatant attempt to write anti-Muslim discrimination into law,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA. “While court after court rules against it, Congress has the power to stop it now by passing legislation that will nullify it once and for all. The families and individuals thrown into chaos and uncertainty cannot wait.”

The briefing paper, a joint initiative of Amnesty International and the CLEAR project (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility) at CUNY School of Law,describes how the travel ban imposed by President Trump is contrary to international human rights law, violating treaties the US has committed to uphold. Based on interviews with more than 30 people affected by the ban, it includes a dozen case studies of the harms caused to individuals and families from Yemen, Iran, Sudan and elsewhere.

Besides documenting the harms caused by President Trump’s first executive order during the relatively brief period in which it was in effect, the briefing paper describes the situations of people who are still awaiting US visas, some of whom could be irreparably harmed if the US courts were to rule that the second executive order is constitutional.

The briefing paper describes the human cost of the executive order, which separated families, disrupted people’s carefully laid plans, and caused enormous emotional anguish.

“If allowed to go into effect, the travel ban order would inflict terrible suffering on some of the most vulnerable people in the world,” said Joanne Mariner. “To date, the courts have been right to block this shameful policy.”

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/usa-return-to-bigoted-anti-muslim-travel-ban-would-cause-immeasurable-harm/

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