Washington, D.C. — Today, the Trump administration released a new legal opinion that seeks to narrow disability rights protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Rehabilitation Act. In response, Mia Ives-Rublee, senior director for the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
This is a direct challenge to a bedrock principle, protected by the ADA, that disabled people have the basic right to live and participate within their communities. More than 25 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed this position, stating that the segregation of disabled people “diminishes the everyday life activities of individuals” and violates protections against discrimination from public entities. Through an ADA mandate, the attorney general issued an integration regulation that requires public entities to provide community-based services in the least restrictive settings.
The attempt to roll back Title II of the ADA undermines decades of progress toward independence, inclusion, and equal opportunity for millions of disabled people. The disability community has spent generations fighting for equal rights, and our hard-won gains are worth defending.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].