In late January, Trump’s Refugee and Muslim generated chaos throughout the nation and international outcry. This ‘new’ ban is a transparent attempt to circumvent court-issued stays on Trump’s original version. Upon review, it’s clear that Trump’s refugee and Muslim ban remains exactly that: still a refugee and Muslim ban. Policy and legal experts gathered today to analyze the ban, the costly ramifications, and next steps. A recording of the event is available here.
Abed A. Ayoub, Esq., Legal and Policy Director, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said:
Regardless of the changes the administration made in the new order, the fact remains – this is an Arab and Muslim Ban. The intent of this administration was to implement such a ban, and that has not changed simply because it is worded differently. We will continue fighting against this bigoted and discriminatory policy.
Farhana Khera, President & Executive Director, Muslim Advocates, said:
While the administration will yet again try to spin how they brand this initiative, it’s crystal clear—this is a Muslim ban. This administration has a deep animus toward American Muslims that is evident to anyone who has even casually followed national events since the presidential campaign. President Trump says his decisions are unreviewable, and we believe, just as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said, that his view is ‘contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy.’ We’ve already beat him in the courts and in the streets once and we’re prepared to do it again, and again, and again.
Karen Tumlin, Legal Director, National Immigration Law Center, said:
Together with the International Refugee Assistance Project, the Yale Law School and the ACLU, NILC is challenging Trump’s Muslim ban in the courts, which as we know, have overwhelmingly rebuked it. We are confident they will do so again, because this revised version is simply more of the same: state-sanctioned bigotry that undermines our Constitution, betrays our fundamental American values and makes us all less safe. Our country was founded to protect religious freedom and reject discrimination. But this Administration is committed to rejecting our proud history of religious liberties despite well-established and universally accepted Constitutional protections that guarantee freedom of religion to all. The freedom to practice one’s faith is enshrined in our Constitution, and no matter how our belief systems may vary, Americans know and believe that we should not be discriminated against based on how we pray or what we look like. This is not who we are as America.
Hans Van de Weerd, Vice President for U.S. Programs, International Rescue Committee; Chair, Refugee Council USA, said:
RCUSA, a coalition of 22 organizations, sees this revised Executive Order as just as cruel as the previous one. The ban will seriously harm refugees—including the tens of thousands that were already thoroughly-vetted for resettlement to the United States. We cannot ignore the human cost of this cruel order: it will separates families, it leaves vulnerable people exposed to death and despair, and it demonizes the refugee populations already in the US, especially Muslim refugees. This order will also seriously damage one of the strongest resettlements program in the world and the capacity of resettlement agencies and their communities to provide services to refugees. Therefore refugee communities and millions of supporters, faith leaders, business leaders and mayors across the nation will continue to fight this anti-refugee, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim agenda until this refugee and Muslim ban is reversed or lifted.
Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Esq., Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar & Clinical Professor of Law, Penn State Law; Director, Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, said:
The new Executive Order is a redressed version of the first, still worthy of the title of Muslim Ban. The exclusion of refugees and individuals from Muslim majority countries undermines our history as a beacon of hope for refugees and sends the wrong message to leaders around the world. Nearly twice as thick, the new Executive Order still suffers from the same legal and policy flaws. No order is above the Constitution nor does singling out people based on where they are from or what religion they practice make our country us safer.
