An appeals court is expected to rule as early as today on President Trump’s ban on refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. On Wednesday morning, Trump accused the judges on the court of being “so political” and described the legal process as “disgraceful.”
For more updates on the legal fight over the executive order, Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh spoke with Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project. Although she is a legal permanent resident of the United States, Shamsi was stopped and questioned about her Pakistani citizenship and her work with the ACLU, when she flew back into the country last week.
Also on today’s show:
Human Slaughterhouse: Amnesty International Says Up to 13,000 Hanged at Syrian Prison
Amnesty International has released a shocking report claiming as many as 13,000 people—mostly civilians—have been hanged in a Syrian government military prison in recent years. Amnesty accuses the Assad government of running a human slaughterhouse and engaging in a deliberate policy of extermination by hanging thousands of civilians at a prison near Damascus. Amnesty says the killings amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Syrian Refugee Crisis Linked to Rampant Torture, Disappearances & Arrests of Civilian Population
Amnesty International’s report on prison hangings at Saydnaya prison was published less than two weeks after President Trump signed an executive order banning refugees indefinitely and temporarily barring entry to all citizens from Syria and six other Muslim-majority nations.
Which Foreign Group Will the Trump Administration Designate as a Terrorist Organization Next?
The White House is considering officially designating more groups as foreign terrorist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood—one of the Middle East’s oldest and most influential Islamic groups.
“Made Me Feel We Were Back in 1950s” Coretta Scott King Memoirist on Silencing of Elizabeth Warren
The Senate has confirmed Jeff Sessions as the United States attorney general after a 52-47 vote Wednesday evening. Sessions’s confirmation has faced widespread protests over his opposition to the Voting Rights Act and his history of making racist comments. The vote capped a contentious 24 hours that began Tuesday night, when Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced and rebuked by the Senate for reading a 1986 letter written by Coretta Scott King denouncing Sessions, who was at the time being considered for a federal judgeship.
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