Supreme Court protects government officials who abuse immigrants during emergencies

Shadowproof - The United States Supreme Court ruled against Arab or Muslim immigrants, who sued former high-ranking government officials for their alleged role in violating their rights in the immediate months after the September 11th attacks. They were rounded up and placed in harsh confinement conditions, even though they had no ties to terrorism.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a dissent against the 4-2 decision that raised concerns about the Supreme Court’s decision to essentially abolish or extremely limit lawsuits against government officials for constitutional rights violations during wartime or national security emergencies.

Such a development is significant given the fact that the U.S. government remains on a permanent war footing.

“In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, hundreds of non-citizen Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men were rounded up solely on the basis of their race, religion, ethnicity, and immigration status,” the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the plaintiffs, declared. “They were held in extremely restrictive confinement and physically and psychologically abused.”

For this abuse and mistreatment, eight former detainees sought damages.

CCR added, “The court held that high-level government officials who implement and create clearly unconstitutional policies alleged to be based on national security are nonetheless shielded from liability.”