WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The just wrapped up a term that yielded significant rulings in cases involving race and discrimination that could have lasting effects on U.S. politics and society.
Justices were at times bitterly divided 鈥� and critical of one another 鈥� in rulings that winnowed key provisions of a landmark , allowed the government to and even challenged the historic understanding of for the children of immigrants.
The decisions come at a moment when long-standing debates over race and identity have turned toward immigration, increasing racial diversity and the fairness of policies meant to prevent and redress discrimination.
鈥淭his term, we saw a Supreme Court that is moving quickly to eradicate legal protections in ways that will leave vulnerable communities exposed to the harsh winds of discrimination and hatred that we continue to see across the country today,鈥� Kristen Clarke, general counsel for the NAACP and the former head of the Justice Department鈥檚 civil rights division during the Biden administration, told The Associated Press.
Here is a breakdown of the latest decisions involving race and what they may mean going forward:
The temporary protected status case
The court to end deportation protections for Haitians and Syrians in the U.S. who have fled violence and natural disaster. President Donald Trump’s administration last year.
With the president’s more than decadelong track record of denigrating developing nations and immigrants who come to the U.S. from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, attorneys for some affected migrants contended that the government could not cancel the designations, in part because Trump’s comments about immigrants were racist.
鈥淭he true reason for the termination is the president鈥檚 racial animus towards non-white immigrants and bare dislike of Haitians in particular,鈥� Geoffrey Pipoly, an attorney for the Haitian nationals in the case, said during April oral arguments in the case, Mullin v. Doe. The attorneys noted that, during his second presidential campaign, Trump claimed immigrants 鈥渁re poisoning the blood of our country” and suggested in another instance that migrants have 鈥渂ad genes.鈥�
Federal authorities denied prejudice played a role in the decision and argued that TPS was supposed to end but has lasted more than a decade in some cases.
In writing for the 6-3 conservative majority, said none of the cited statements was 鈥渙vertly racial,鈥� reasoning that any of Trump’s actions could have been taken without racial animus and attributing his anti-immigrant comments to 鈥減olitical discourse.”
That’s not how the court’s liberal minority saw the situation.
鈥淭he references 鈥� of filth, disease, and primitiveness 鈥� are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes. It is hard to imagine the statements being made today of any White community,鈥� wrote in her dissent.
The birthright citizenship case
In one of the highest-profile cases of the term, the court reaffirmed that the to the U.S. Constitution means all people born in the U.S. are citizens.
On his first day in office last year, seeking to restrict birthright citizenship to the children of U.S. citizens, a move that civil rights groups challenged as unconstitutional and racist.
In his majority opinion, traced the arc of birthright citizenship 鈥� a principle that all people born on U.S. soil are citizens 鈥� from its origins in English common law to its codification in the 14th Amendment.
Roberts noted that race and citizenship had been fiercely debated in courts, speeches, Congress and battlefields because of Black Americans鈥� fight for freedom from slavery.
Freed Black Americans did not receive citizenship as a 鈥渞eward,鈥� Roberts wrote, but because 鈥渢he Amendment recognized their rightful claim to birthright citizenship simply and solely by virtue of their having been born on American soil.鈥�
The 6-3 ruling was a blow to the Trump administration, which has made restricting immigration its central goal.
鈥淭he clause does not extend citizenship to the children of temporary visa holders or illegal aliens,鈥� U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued before the court in April.
agreed and wrote in his dissent that African descendants of enslaved people in the U.S. are a unique case separate from the children of tourists or people in the country illegally.
鈥淏lacks were entitled to citizenship because they were Americans. They had no other homeland, owed no allegiance to any foreign power, and were subject to no other authority,鈥� Thomas wrote.
In a stark move, liberal Justices and directly criticized Thomas’ claim in a joint opinion.
鈥淭he Reconstruction Amendments were an anticaste, antisubordination reset for the Nation, not a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery,鈥� they wrote.
The voting rights case
The Supreme Court that gutted a key provision of the meant to remedy efforts to disenfranchise minority voters. Among the methods the law permitted to stop voting discrimination in states was the creation of majority-minority congressional districts.
In the majority opinion, Alito found that because race and partisan voting behavior were so intertwined, it was unfair to conclude that a partisan gerrymander of a state’s congressional districts could be racist, given there may be other reasons for the map’s results.
Alito reasoned that 鈥渋n a state where both parties have substantial support and where race is often correlated with party preference,鈥� partisan actors can 鈥渆asily exploit鈥� laws meant to protect minority political participation for disingenuous reasons.
The liberal justices balked at the logic and criticized the conservative majority for harming minority representation in politics and culture. They believed that the law’s provisions were still necessary to prevent discrimination by states and worried about the fallout from its removal.
鈥淭he consequences are likely to be far-reaching and grave,” Kagan wrote in her dissent. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter. In the states where that law continues to matter 鈥� the states still marked by residential segregation and racially polarized voting 鈥� minority voters can now be cracked out of the electoral process.鈥�
The decision has had profound impact on the political landscape, with nearly a dozen Southern states immediately taking and eliminate majority-Black districts.
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