# Would restricting immigration from Muslims be Unconstitutional? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390 "2015-11-23T23:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390/101 "2015-12-09T22:19:38Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > This is a huge nitpick, but I pick because I care šŸ™‚ Itā€™s Privileges OR immunities, not AND. The AND phrasing is from Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1, the OR phrasing is from the 14th amendment and was argued in Slaughterhouse. Oh, you. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![fire\_hazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6de8d8/32.png) [@fire\_hazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fire_hazard)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390/102 "2015-12-09T22:52:58Z")
"Now, Therefore, I, Barack Obama, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 of this proclamation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. I therefore hereby proclaim that: Section 1. The entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of the following persons is hereby suspended: " Proclamation 8697 From the American Presidency Project. [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=90694](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=90694) I thought this was interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390/103 "2015-12-10T01:50:36Z")
Thatā€™s prohibiting immigration by terrorists and war criminals, not by members of any particular religion, nationality, race, or any of the other criteria weā€™re talking about here. I doubt thatā€™s very controversial, though itā€™s not exactly easy to enforce. ---
**Author:** ![fire\_hazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6de8d8/32.png) [@fire\_hazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fire_hazard)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390/104 "2015-12-10T02:41:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Thatā€™s prohibiting immigration by terrorists and war criminals, not by members of any particular religion, nationality, race, or any of the other criteria weā€™re talking about here. I doubt thatā€™s very controversial, though itā€™s not exactly easy to enforce. The point I was making is thatā€¦ "(f) Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate. " Note that I am learning here, I am not American and the laws there have no effect on me. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390/105 "2015-12-10T04:19:24Z")
I think its a pretty irrelevant question, because you could wriggle around the issue without directly banning muslims from immigration. A Potential Trump government could set a policy that immigrants from muslim majority countries have to show a higher standard or that they are a persecuted minority (eg not a muslim) to be considered. Name the countries in the policy and not the religion and you pretty effectively do the same thing. There could also be a nebulous ā€œwillingness to adapt to US cultureā€ criteria for immigration which could be used arbitrarily, again without naming muslims specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390/106 "2015-12-10T05:04:10Z")
Just a friendly correction: itā€™s _moo_-slim. Mooslim. At least according to every anchor on MSNBC. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390/107 "2015-12-10T13:40:36Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Iā€™m not second guessing. Iā€™m first-guessing. And the default assumption is always that the existing case law controls. Thatā€™s why nobody litigates constitutional issues under the Privileges & Immunities Clause (with a very few exceptions) even though pretty much everyone agrees the Slaughterhouse Cases were wrongly decided. And why nobody challenges baseballā€™s exclusive antitrust exemption even though SCOTUS _itself_ said the underlying case was wrongly decided. Yes, they find a way to reverse earlier ā€œbadā€ decisions without actually coming out and reversing them. ā€œCanā€™t yell ā€˜Fireā€™ in a crowded theatreā€ for example, was effectively reversed within a decade or two; or the earlier mentioned Brown decisionā€¦ Sorry, yes, the whole scenario is hypothetical, but my point is you never know - in even less controversial cases, thereā€™s always argument which way the judges will rule.(or rather, the majority) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-restricting-immigration-from-muslims-be-unconstitutional/738390.md?page=5)