On October 18, 2017, around 3,000 people gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House to oppose the travel ban announced on September 24th by the Trump administration. FCNL helped organized this march alongside 10 other organizations as part of the #NoMuslimBanEver campaign, which held events throughout October protesting this ban.
Federal courts in both Hawaii and Maryland have temporarily blocked implementation of the ban, which would have gone into effect on the 18th, but concerned citizens came to show their continuing opposition to the discriminatory measure.
After the expiration of the original Muslim bans announced in January and March of this year, the White House announced another ban in September which indefinitely prohibits travel from six Muslim-majority countries. While the revised policy also restricts travel by North Koreans and government officials from Venezuela, these restrictions would impact very few travelers. In substance, this policy continues to primarily affect Muslim-majority countries, showing its discriminatory nature. FCNL along with the other hosting organizations decry this discriminatory, unconstitutional, and inhumane policy.
The crowd at the march included many immigrants from the affected countries, and they were joined by allies, advocates, activists, and religious leaders from all faiths. All the supporters of the #NoMuslimBanEVER campaign gathered to listen to speakers in Lafayette Square before marching down to Trump Tower, where there was another short program of speakers. 11 organizations came together to organize the march, including FCNL, Women’s March, MPower Change, People Power, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Indivisible Guide, Muslim Community Network, The New York Immigration Coalition, National Iranian American Council, MoveOn, Council on American-Islamic Relations.
