KAILUA-KONA — The U.S. Supreme Court’s Tuesday decision in the case of Trump v. Hawaii, which affirmed broad executive powers to restrict or prohibit travel from majority-Muslim countries for national security purposes, inspired universal rebuke among Hawaii politicians and activist groups.
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono called Tuesday “a dark day for our country” in an official press release, adding “every time our country has singled out a minority group for discriminatory treatment, we have been proven very, very wrong.”
Brian Schatz, her Senate counterpart, said in a release of his own that the court’s 5-4 decision is proof that legality and justice aren’t always defined the same way. He characterized the ruling as “un-American and contrary to everything we stand for.”
“The Supreme Court made the wrong decision and ignored the evidence that the Muslim ban, even the more narrowly tailored version, is a xenophobic policy that makes our country no safer than before,” Schatz said.
State politicians voiced their objections as well, beginning with Lt. Governor Doug Chin, the former Hawaii Attorney General who initially filed the case against the Trump administration that the Supreme Court decided Tuesday.
Chin focused his remarks less on legal merit in favor of compassion and encouragement.
“I hurt today for Hawaii families and others who have experienced discrimination and scapegoating due to President Trump’s bullying remarks and orders,” he said in a press release. “The path to civil rights does not always come quickly, but I have faith in humanity and believe justice will eventually prevail.”
Gov. David Ige used his press release to provide context through a Hawaiian lens.
In what was at the time a U.S. territory, Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii were interned during World War II, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 1944 in the case of Korematsu v. United States.
“Many of Hawaii’s families vividly remember experiencing unjust discrimination on the basis of race and national origin,” Ige said. “Our state will continue to be a check on this president’s irrational fear of travelers from predominantly Muslim countries.”
“Sadly, the Supreme Court’s decision does not reflect the American values of inclusion, freedom, and opportunity,” he continued. “And it does not reflect the Aloha Spirit that Hawaii exemplifies.”
Joshua Wisch, executive director of the Hawaii American Civil Liberties Union, in a release called the president’s order “discriminatory” and said it “hurts for everyone who cherishes our Constitution.”
The end of his comments, however, struck a more optimistic tone, expressing pride in the millions of American citizens who spoke out against every version of the travel ban.
“And while the Court reached the wrong decision today — one which will haunt it for generations — we take comfort in knowing that the American people rose up to defend the most vulnerable among us in their most fraught hours,” Wisch said.
“When Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps during World War II not only did the courts fail, but the people were silent,” he added. “Not so this time.”
The Trump administration claimed vindication in an official response issued Tuesday.
The White House continued on to reference what it described as “hysterical commentary from the media and Democratic politicians who refuse to do what it takes to secure our border and our country” throughout a legal process that began with an emergency injunction filed Jan. 28, 2017 — one day after the president issued his initial ban on U.S. entry for citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations.
The out of touch Hawaii left leaning liberal politicians are on full tilt after the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s travel ban. Unfortunately for them there will be more to come in the future. Maybe they should wake up and join the rest of the country. They are firmly in the minority now.
They hate law and Christ both. Wail and gnash teeth plenty.
If you would love your god then you would offer support for the sick, downtrodden, poor and stranger at your door. With this attitude your god will send you straight to hell.
FYI dumb “journolists” a DEMOCRAT put the Japanese americans into camps your beloved socialist FDR. also since you have forgotten 9-11 I hope for Hawaii to have its own
And remember:
no one will lose their
….cushy salary, cushy pension, cushy medical, cushy, cushy, cushy
due to their lies/deception/blathering about this!
Besides, it gave them something to do…for a while…even if they were wrong.
When it comes to over-the-top fake sanctimony, nobody does it better than Hawaii Democrats. Doug Chin at least should be grateful for all the free publicity he got (at taxpayers’ expense) out of the travel ban.
Thank you President Trump . And thank you for declaring a FEMA covered disaster zone in our Puna District And sir , while you are at it , would you please consider declaring martial law here in Hawaii and completely removing the present civilian Democrat dominated government ? Hawaii is too important to allow these nitwits to continue to command and control . That’s your job sir . And you are damn good at it ! Mahalo in advance .
“Sadly, the Supreme Court’s decision does not reflect the American
values of inclusion, freedom, and opportunity,” he continued. “And it
does not reflect the Aloha Spirit that Hawaii exemplifies.” Governor Ige : I would like to thank you for defeating Neil Abercrombie in Primary and forever removing that stain’s name from our daily news and consciousnesse . It was the best , and the only , thing you ever did . Thereafter yours has been a legacy of complete fecklessness , weakness , indecision , and molly-coddling to whatever you perceive as the necessary pandering to the overall National Democrat Socialist Party agenda(s) . That people seem willing to elect Harvey Milquetoast again is hard to believe . But this is Hawaii .
Have you been tested for any STD’s?
I think your next job could be as a North Koren News Lady
ANOTHER WIN for PRESIDENT TRUMP, and COMMON SENSE IMMIGRATION!
If a country cannot, or will not, verify that a person is even a citizen of a
particular country, especially if a country of origin has sworn “DEATH TO
AMERICA!”, why oh why would we allow those people in our country?
Hawaii took it on the “CHIN” to the tune of tens of millions of dollars for his open border
nonsense. These lefties can twist the facts all they want, but in the end the truth comes out about their real agenda. Boy, could our schools and teachers have used all that wasted money!
So, if 100,000 people from Iran (which has sworn “DEATH TO AMERICA”) want to come to Hawaii, and we can’t verify who they are because Iran will not give us any information on any of them, Hazie thinks that it should be OK and they should be let in. WOW!
Don’t reelect Hazie, she is only manipulating the voting process. After she is reelected she will resign due to her cancer, in order for Hanabusa to appoint Tulsi “talks too much” Gabbard to her position. Collusion to manipulate the voting process!