Democratic lawmakers protest refugee ban before Supreme Court

Protesting US President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, top Democratic lawmakers held a peaceful protest in front of the Supreme Court, calling for repeal of the order that bans entry of all refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations.
"The Trump Administration's Muslim ban not only presents an unconstitutional religious test and undermines our values but weakens our security too," alleged Congressman Steny H Hoyer, House Democratic Whip, as he was joined by other party colleague last night before the Supreme Court against Trump's executive orders.
"It feeds into ISIS's message to those on the fringes of society and susceptible to radicalisation that our nation is somehow at war with Islam itself or that America does not truly live up to its greatness as a refuge to those seeking freedom and opportunity," he said.

"But those who gathered tonight in front of the Supreme Court - spilling out across the street and onto the US Capitol grounds - and the tens of thousands who spontaneously came together at airports and in public spaces in cities across our land know better," he said.
"We recognise that America remains the land of the free and home of the brave, unafraid of those who speak different languages or worship in different ways.
"We recognise the age-old truth that America has a place for all who are called to the American Dream," Hoyer said.

"This land is our land. It's the land of our founders. It's the land of our future," Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic Leader, said as they were joined by top Democratic Senators including the Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer on the footsteps of the Supreme Court.

"What the President did is not constitutional. Indeed, in the view of many of us, it is immoral. Protect all of us and defend the Constitution of the United States.
"What the President has done is not in the interest of security. It is reckless and rash. To protect our Constitution we must be strong and smart," Pelosi said.
Meanwhile, as many as 30 Democratic Senators wrote a letter to Trump asking him to rescind his immigration related executive orders.
"The text of this document and its haphazard
implementation both run counter to our American values and the Constitution, as well as our national security and economic interests, by restricting more than 200 million people from entering our country with no clear evidence that it will make our nation more secure. Westrongly urge you to immediately revoke the Executive Order," the Democratic Senators said.

Executive action that denies entry to refugees escaping violence and oppression with an explicit preference for people of one religion over another is unconscionable and unconstitutional, said the letter.
In a related development the House Democrats led by Congressmen Zoe Lofgren and John Conyers, introduced legislation to "defund and rescind" Trump's executive order banning travel from Muslim countries and suspending the refugee programme.
"As a nation of immigrants that has been a refuge for people from around the world, these actions are contrary to who we are as a nation," said Lofgren.
"The Statute of Liberty Values Act states that President Trump's executive order will have no effect or force of law and states that no funds or fees shall be used to implement it," he added.

"Trump has recklessly instituted an executive order rooted in Islamophobia and xenophobia," said Conyers.
"It rationalises fear mongering and is an unprecedented break with America's humanitarian tradition, targeting the most vulnerable population in the world - refugees.
"What makes it even worse is that instead of making us safer, this order has the potential to bolster recruitment for terrorist groups," he said.