NYC Activists March Against Supreme Court Travel Ban Ruling

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — Thousands of activists condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding President Donald Trump's so-called travel ban at a Tuesday evening march that blocked traffic in Lower Manhattan. Protestors said the decision validating a “racist,” anti-Muslim policy was the latest in a long line of rulings enshrining oppression.

"I don’t give a damn what the Supreme Court says is legal because they said slavery was legal, segregation was legal, the interment of Japanese Americans was legal,” the Muslim activist Linda Sarsour told the crowd gathered at Foley Square before the march.

The NYCLU, the New York Immigration Coalition and the Council on American-Islamic Relations were among the dozens of groups supporting the quickly organized protest.

The crowd filled the plaza between the Manhattan federal courthouses and the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building before taking to the streets, dwarfing a tiny group of pro-Trump counter-protesters.

The protestors marched down Broadway to Battery Park, where they gathered near a statue titled "The Immigrants" with the Statue of Liberty in view. Some activists held signs invoking Lady Liberty or likening the president to the Nazi regime.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision held that Trump was within his presidential authority to restrict travelers from eight countries — Chad, Iran, Somalia, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen — from entering the United States in a September 2017 executive order. Chad was eventually removed from the list.

The order was the third version of the Republican president's so-called travel ban. The first version, issued in Trump's first month in office, caused massive protests in New York City as travelers from predominantly Muslim nations were suddenly held at local airports.

Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion rejected a challenge brought by the state of Hawaii, a Muslim group and three individuals, calling Trump's order "facially neutral toward religion."

But advocates and Democratic officials said the ruling effectively allows xenophobic discrimination against Muslim immigrants. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the president's order "institutionalized Islamophobia."

"President Trump’s travel bans are a stain on American history that were rooted in deep anti-Muslim animus and unleashed chaos on families, businesses, institutions, and communities throughout New York," state Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in a statement.

Several lower federal courts around the country, including one in Brooklyn, had reportedly blocked all three versions of the travel ban. Trump celebrated his ultimate legal victory with a simple Twitter post: "SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!" he wrote.

"This ruling is also a moment of profound vindication following months of hysterical commentary from the media and Democratic politicians who refuse to do what it takes to secure our border and our country," Trump said in a White House statement.

(Lead image: Protesters shout “Shame!” at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building during a rally against the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding President Donald Trump's travel ban on June 26, 2018. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)