PAAIA Statement on Supreme Court Decision to Hear Travel Ban Challenge

Washington, DC – Today, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear a challenge to the Trump administration’s latest iteration of the Travel Ban. This news comes just one week before the anniversary of the first version of Travel Ban. PAAIA, along with a coalition of civil rights, advocacy, and legal organizations, has been on the frontlines fighting every iteration of the Travel Ban and remains committed to protecting the civil liberties of Iranian Americans.

“President Trump’s third Travel Ban is fundamentally unconstitutional,” said PAAIA’s Executive Director, Leila Austin. “While PAAIA and the Iranian American community remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will permanently end this destructive and unconstitutional ban that damages American democracy and makes us less safe, we will continue to pursue every available avenue open to us, including calling for the ban’s complete rejection in the halls of Congress, until the Travel Ban has been blocked.”

Iranian nationals make up the largest number of immigrant or non-immigrant visitors among the listed countries on the Travel Ban and already undergo extensive security screening. Unfairly targeting the Iranian people undermines the solidarity between the peoples of both countries and overlooks the countless contributions Iranian Americans make to the security and economic prosperity of the United States.

Information on the Iranian American coalition federal lawsuit can be found at www.endthetravelban.com.

ABOUT PAAIA: The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization that represents the interests of the Iranian American community before U.S. policymakers, opinion makers, and the American public at large.