FCNL’s Yasmine Taeb addressed the Trump administration’s recent executive order on refugees and immigrants, as well as a planned executive order on the Muslim Brotherhood, on a panel convened by American University’s School of International Service on February 13th.
In an in-depth discussion of Islamophobia in the United States, panelists laid out the historical roots of anti-Muslim prejudice, its direct impact on Muslim-American communities, and what can be done to address it.
Speaking both as a policy expert and as an Iranian-American with many relatives still in Iran, FCNL Lobbyist for Human Rights and Civil Liberties Yasmine Taeb said it is almost impossible to comprehend just how much harm Trump’s de facto Muslim ban does to American citizens, immigrants, and refugees in desperate need of safe haven. Despite the administration’s assurances, she said, it is “very unlikely” that any travel ban created by President Trump would end after 90 days.
Though it has received less attention in the media, Taeb noted that the Trump administration’s refugee policy is also alarming. The administration’s attempt to suspend the entire refugee resettlement program is “heartbreaking, inhumane, and un-American,” she said.
This administration’s refugee policy is “heartbreaking, inhumane, and un-American,” Taeb said.
Finally, Taeb addressed a less publicized, more insidious policy proposal that would greatly harm the Muslim American community: the administration’s plan to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Islamophobic conspiracy theorists have long accused moderate Muslim organizations of affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, and this order would give those accusations legal weight. In fact, Taeb said that this proposed designation is “motivated by [policymakers’] desire to classify mainstream Muslim organizations as terrorist-affiliated,” adding that it could even be used to target Muslim student associations at US universities.
While she was heartened to see thousands of people rally at airports around the country after the administration first released its anti-immigrant, anti-refugee executive orders, Taeb said, we must keep raising our voices as long as discrimination and fear continue to drive government actions. “We must continue to be outraged” by unacceptable policies, she said.
In addition to Taeb, the event also featured Dr. Daniel Tutt, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Marymount University and the Director of Programs and Producer at Unity Productions Foundation; Engy Abdelkader, Senior Fellow, Bridge Initiative and Adjunct Professor at Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; and Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Professor and Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, School of International Service.
