How Constitutional is Donald Trump assertions against Muslims?

Donald Trump just called for suspension of all Muslims’ visitor visas and immigrant visas.

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said a “total and complete shutdown” of all Muslims entering the United States should be put into place until Congress can act.”

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How Unconstitutional will that be?

While such a law might be unconstitutional namely against Muslim US citizens and those who are legally coming to the United States through a permanent residence, the law might not be so “unconstitutional” when it comes to B1/B2 visas, F1 visas, H1B visas and other non-immigrant visas.

In the past such laws have passed including the Chinese Exclusion Acts around 1866 to 1898 and for Jews also were also excluded during World War II.  We should also not forget the Japanese internment camps set up in California when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Can such thing happen in the 21st Century?

You bet it can because many of the media outlets are controlled by bigots and Congress is controlled by Republicans. Many members of the Republican party are eager to pass such a law.  This is not new at all.  However, the good news is that the majority of the United States population does not share such radical views and we hope that they will be the “real majority”.

What to do next?

At this point it seems to be more political rhetoric than anything else. For such a law to pass constitutional muster will be hard. Nonetheless there is a possibility for such a thing to happen. We recommend all the clients who are of Muslim background to be careful when traveling and make sure you do not face discrimination on your arrival. Just as a reminder on your rights, please see presentation below.