Muslim Advocates Condemns Trump's Expanded Muslim Ban

WASHINGTON, DC —  President Trump has expanded the Muslim Ban to include six additional countries: Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. There are now 13 countries subject to the ban, most of which are Muslim-majority. From day one, Muslim Advocates has been on the front lines of the fight against the ban from every angle—serving as co-counsel in two major, ongoing lawsuits challenging the policy; helping to develop and leading advocacy for passage of the NO BAN Act (H.R. 2214/S. 1123) and testifying at the first ever congressional hearing on the Muslim Ban. The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Khera on the expanded Muslim Ban:

“The Muslim Ban expansion is about one thing: weaponizing anti-Muslim bigotry for political gain. Like the administration’s earlier Muslim bans, this expanded ban overwhelmingly targets Muslims and forces tens of thousands Americans to sacrifice their families, their health and their educational and professional opportunities. In fact, over a million Americans were born in Muslim Ban countries and could be affected. It is clear that the president’s goal, as always, is to target Muslims, immigrants, black and African countries and other people or color.

Since the ban was first enacted in early 2017, the president and his allies have ignored the human impact of the ban. Instead, they scare the public with blanket, baseless assertions of protecting national security, while tearing families apart. So let’s be clear: the president has never been able to show how banning babies and grandmothers makes us safer.  

This ban is not about national security. It is about politics. Anti-Muslim bigotry has always been a driving force of Donald Trump’s political career: from his embrace of birtherism to campaigning in 2016 on ‘a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States’ to his derogatory comments about African immigrants and countries to today’s announcement. With this expanded ban, the president is, once again, simply trying to put lipstick on a pig. His vague and baseless national security arguments are a vain attempt to conceal the real core of this policy: bigotry.

This expanded Muslim Ban is a monument to cruelty that tells the world that we do not believe in religious liberty and equal protection. That’s why we’re calling on Congress to pass the NO BAN Act, a necessary civil rights bill that would immediately end this heinous ban and prevent future presidents from enacting similar religious, racial and nationality bans ever again.”

Additional Resources:

• Muslim Advocates’ Muslim Ban Action Center

• Muslim Civil Rights Bill Reaches Critical Mass of Support in Congress

• Congress holds first ever hearing on the Muslim Ban

Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination.