HIAS Welcomes Court Ruling Blocking Third Travel Ban

SILVER SPRING, Md.—Today, U.S. District Court Judge Derrick K. Watson issued a ruling blocking the Trump Administration's newest travel ban just hours before it was set to go into effect. The ruling was part of the case brought by the State of Hawaii and others.

In response, Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS, the global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees, issued the following statement:

“For the third time in less than a year, the courts have rebuffed the Trump Administration’s efforts to arbitrarily discriminate against Muslims travelers. HIAS and our supporters will continue to show up in opposition to every attempt to ban individuals simply because of their country of origin and, religion. Banning people on the basis of their country of birth or nationality is not acceptable for America.”

Yesterday, in Maryland, U.S. District Court Judge Theodore D. Chuang heard oral arguments for International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump—the case HIAS is a plaintiff in—together with two other cases challenging the new ban: Zakzok v. Trump and Iranian Alliances Across Borders v. Trump.

Tomorrow, HIAS and Bend the Arc are partnering to lead the American Jewish community’s participation in #NoMuslimBanEver march in Washington, D.C.

###