Reflections on the Muslim Ban: Immigration and National Security

In June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States in Trump v. Hawaii ruled to uphold Trump’s travel ban, turning a blind eye on an executive order motivated by blatant bigotry and religious animus. The decision is a grave miscarry of justice – an affront to our nation’s constitutional principles and inclusionary values. 

The ban’s impact comes in many shapes and forms, reaching well beyond individuals from the five targeted countries into hearts, homes, and neighborhoods across the country. Hateful rhetoric coming from the highest levels of government has manifested in an increase in hate crimes motivated by religious animus against Muslim-American communities. In January 2017, when the first ban went into effect, we saw how it disproportionately affected refugees and immigrants coming from Muslim, Arab, Iranian, Middle Eastern, and South Asian countries. History has shown that our government has been on the wrong side of our values and the law before; and such discriminatory policies, the vilification and stigmatization of Muslim and immigrant populations will face resistance from committed activism.

Join the Muslim Law Students Association, American Constitution Society, International Refugee Assistance Project, and Penn Law Immigrant Rights Project for an expert panel to discuss the constitutional implications of the executive orders and the ruling fromTrump v. Hawaii with Professor Maggie McKinley, Professor Jean Galbraith, and Hogan Lovells’s Senior Associate, Alexander Bowerman and ACLU's Senior Legislative and Advocacy Counsel, Manar Waheed. The purpose is to discuss not only real-life consequences of the Muslim Ban, but to also shed light on this administration’s weaponization of national security policies – contextualizing the ban into a broader anti-immigrant rhetoric and history.

Food will be served!