The Friends Committee on National Legislation strongly opposes President Trump’s proclamation to indefinitely ban nearly all travel from seven nations, including six Muslim-majority countries.
This proclamation is nothing more than the latest iteration of the president’s irresponsible and immoral Muslim ban. Like previous versions of the ban, this policy unfairly restricts travel from six Muslim-majority nations and effectively bars Muslims from coming to the United States. While the revised policy also restricts travel from North Korea and government officials from Venezuela, there are few travelers coming to the U.S. that would be blocked by these new restrictions. In substance, this order remains a thinly-veiled version of the Muslim ban President Trump proposed during his campaign and implemented at the beginning of his administration. This proclamation goes even further by sustaining this dangerous, harmful, and discriminatory policy indefinitely.
Yasmine Taeb, FCNL’s lead lobbyist on human rights and civil liberties, made the following statement:
“From the beginning, the president’s Muslim ban has grossly violated our core beliefs and has run counter to American values. This newest version is no different. It clearly infringes upon the bedrock principle of religious freedom, singling out Muslims to be excluded and feared and asserting that Muslims have no place in the United States. It also denies America’s identity as a welcoming nation of immigrants. While immigrants from each of the nations targeted by the travel ban have already woven themselves into the fabric of American life, this ban cruelly denies new individuals that same opportunity.
“We also believe that the United States has a special obligation to assist those coming from countries in which the United States military has recently intervened, including Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia. It is shameful for our nation to elevate the level of violence and economic anxiety in other countries, or claim to deploy military force or sanctions out of a desire to protect civilians and human rights, and then turn its back on the people forced to flee these conflicts.
“It is our responsibility as Americans to welcome those most in need, offer refuge, and lift up our shared humanity. We read in America’s founding documents the assertion that all people are created equal. We read in scripture a clarion call to love thy neighbor without exception. The president’s proclamation stands against these values and furthers his agenda to close America’s doors altogether. In the coming days, we expect the president to push those doors even further shut by drastically reducing the number of refugees the United States will welcome in fiscal year 2018. We must stand on the other side, pushing with all of our might to keep the doors open. On these grounds, we vehemently oppose Trump’s proclamation and call on members of Congress to publicly oppose these discriminatory policies.”
