WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement:

“The Supreme Court’s decision on the President’s Muslim Ban is a mistake that future generations will view as a dark stain on our history. America has long been an open and welcoming place of refuge for desperate people fleeing persecution, violence, and displacement. Today, those places include Syria, Somalia, and Yemen—all Muslim-majority countries and all places on the President’s xenophobic blacklist. With this decision, five justices have validated the President’s racism and fearmongering, and have told the world’s most vulnerable that they aren’t welcome on our shores.

“This attack on basic American values shows the Republicans getting exactly what they wanted when they stole a seat on the high court. The decision won’t make any Americans safer, but it does endanger America’s fundamental right of religious freedom and our country’s tradition of acceptance and tolerance. We look back with shame and regret on the internment of Japanese-Americans and the turning-away of the MS St. Louis—chapters in America’s story when fear and ignorance overwhelmed moral clarity and compassion. I have no doubt that history will pass the same judgment on this decision and those who supported it.”

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