July, 22 2020, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, ihooper@cair.com
CAIR Applauds U.S. House Passage of Legislation Repealing Trump's Muslim and African Bans
Muslim Group Urges Senate to Immediately Pass the NO BAN Act.
WASHINGTON
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for today's vote to pass the NO BAN Act (H.R. 2486, formerly H.R. 2214) and urged U.S. Senate Republican leadership to support the bill.
"By voting to overturn the Muslim Ban, the House has hopefully brought us closer to the day when our nation throws President Trump's illegal and immoral policy into the dustbin of history," said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. "Although we welcome today's vote, our work to overturn this and President Trump's other racist, bigoted policies is far from over. Onward."
SEE: Tlaib, Dingell spearhead historic legislation to repeal Muslim travel ban
First introduced in April 2019 by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and Representative Judy Chu (D-CA), the NO BAN Act includes three critical components to fighting the Ban:
- It repeals each iteration of the Muslim and African Ban - including one that specifically targeted refugees for extreme vetting - as well as an asylum ban issued after the Supreme Court's ruling and that relied on the same authority as the Muslim Ban;
- It amends the Immigration Nationality Act's nondiscrimination provision to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on religion and to apply all nondiscrimination protections to immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants alike;
- It responsibly limits overly broad executive authority to issue future bans by, among other things, imposing stricter requirements and mandatory reporting to Congress.
In a statement, CAIR National Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw thanks supporters of the House bill and called on the U.S. Senate to take up the legislation:
"CAIR applauds members of the U.S. House of Representatives who today stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the American Muslim community by voting to support the NO BAN Act, which strikes the first major legislative blow against Trump's Islamophobic and xenophobic Muslim and African travel bans."
"We especially thank our congressional allies who supported the NO BAN Act from its inception, including the act's primary sponsor, Congresswoman Judy Chu. Although we welcome today's vote, our work to overturn this and other discriminatory and bigoted policies of this presidency is far from over.
"The only thing now standing in the way of Congress adopting the NO BAN Act is the willingness of U.S. Senate Republican leadership to show some moral backbone and fight back against Trump's discriminatory, hateful, and un-American Muslim and African bans.
"If Senate Republicans do not support the NO BAN Act, they can count on history remembering them for standing with a bigoted policy instead of the Constitution."
The NO BAN Act vote was previously scheduled for March on the House floor, but the vote was delayed as Congress recessed due to outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Prior to the act being rescheduled, CAIR joined fellow members of the No Muslim Ban Ever Coalition on Capitol Hill in a congressional action calling for a vote on the No Ban Act.
VIDEO: CAIR Joins #NoMuslimBanEver Coalition in Congressional Action Calling for Vote on No Ban Act
BACKGROUND:
On January 31, the Trump Administration expanded the Muslim Ban to Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.
FULL VIDEO: CAIR, Civil Rights Partners Respond to Trump's Expanded Muslim Ban
For Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria, the restrictions will apply to immigrant visas -- for those seeking to live or work in the U.S. permanently. For Sudan and Tanzania, the restrictions are being placed on diversity visas. Iran, Syria, Libya, Venezuela, North Korea, Yemen, and Somalia were already subject to the travel ban, and remain so.
Since its introduction, the NO BAN Act has gone through several changes. The act itself has been merged with Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal's Access to Counsel Act of 2020 - an act that would guarantee CBP and ICE provide persons detained for more than an hour in secondary screening access to their private legal counsel, including non-citizens and unaccompanied children, who may be detained at the U.S. border or ports-of-entry for long periods of time.
Congressional leaders also amended the act to address COVID-19 by reiterating presidential authority can be invocated to prevent the spread of "communicable disease" as defined by regulation. CAIR and many other civil rights organizations disagree with those changes given the long history and stigma of immigrants be wrongly labeled as health risks which result in discriminatory policies. The Trump administration has repeatedly invoked Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for COVID-19 related visa bans.
On January 28, CAIR and other organizations took part in a court hearing and rally in Richmond Va., challenging the Trump administration's Muslim Ban based on its discriminatory intent.
VIDEO: Full News Conference Following Muslim Ban Court Hearing in Richmond, Va.
In September 2019, CAIR submitted a written statement endorsing the NO BAN Act to a joint congressional oversight hearing on the Trump administration's Muslim Ban by U.S. House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship and Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
CAIR's mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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