January 24, 2020

January 27th marks the three year anniversary of the Muslim Ban, the Trump administration’s Executive Order (EO) barring immigrants and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the country. The specifics of the EO hardly obscured what President Trump himself characterized as the ultimate purpose of the Ban; that is, to ban Muslims from entering the country. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the third version of the Muslim Ban, based on the idea that the EO included a waiver process. We knew then that the waiver process was a sham, and during a Congressional hearing on the Muslim Ban last September, it was all but confirmed that the inclusion of a waiver process was superficial. 

The time since the initial EO has confirmed some of our worst fears about this action and the intentions of the administration. Last year, we worked with Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA) and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) to introduce the No Ban Act (National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act), a bill that would repeal the Muslim ban and ensure no future administration could pass another discriminatory ban. Currently, we are working to ensure a clean passage of the No Ban Act. Join us by doing your part to ensure that this ban is made unlawful.

As we get closer to the November elections, we anticipate that there will be more of these sorts of policies. The Trump administration has already intimated their intentions of expanding the current Ban. The legacy of the Muslim Ban is part of the legacy of family separation policies. 

We will continue to hold this administration accountable and work with our legislative and civil society partners to ensure the Muslim Ban is overturned.