SHAFAQNA- On the 6th anniversary of the Muslim & African Bans,the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) , a broad coalition of human rights groups, Reps. Judy Chu, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Andre Carson called on Biden to reunite harmed families
“The Trump Muslim Ban was plainly rooted in prejudice. And it caused a great deal of pain to families who had worked for years to go through the legal vetting process to earn a chance at a better future here in the United States, only to have the opportunity to immigrate ripped away from them – sometimes at the very last minute. While I thank President Biden for rescinding the discriminatory Ban on Day 1 of his administration, we need Congress to pass the NO BAN Act to ensure no future President can ban people from coming to the United States simply because of their religious beliefs,” said Representative Judy Chu.
Bearing posters with the photos and stories of just some of the countless children, siblings, and parents who are still separated from their loved ones, the group rallied at the House Triangle today and delivered a petition with more than 33,000 signatures and a letter to President Biden urging him to fulfill his promise to fully dismantle the racist and Islamophobic Bans and allow all individuals who were denied their fair shot at immigrating to the U.S.
The letter signed by sixty seven organizations said:
While we cannot quantify the harm to the countless number of people who were deterred from ever applying for visas while the bans were in place, it is crucial that this administration fulfill its promise to right the wrongs of the Trump administration by providing relief to those who applied for but either never received or were denied visas that they otherwise would have qualified for had the unjust bans never been imposed. We urge you to take immediate steps to provide meaningful relief to those harmed by the bans.
“Two years ago, CAIR welcomed President Biden’s termination – on his first day in office – of the previous administration’s discriminatory Muslim and African Bans,” said Robert S. McCaw, Council on American-Islamic Relations Director of Government Affairs. “However, we believe that the Biden administration has neglected its responsibility to holistically address and fix the damages done by the Muslim and African bans. That includes providing another opportunity to Diversity Visa winners who were denied their chance to apply to immigrate to the United States.”
“We need President Biden to take action now to reunite the tens of thousands of families still torn apart by Trump’s unconscionable Muslim and African Bans,” said Yasmine Taeb, Legislative and Political Director at MPower Change Action Fund. “Our families have waited more than two years for the Biden administration to take the appropriate steps to provide relief and redress the harms caused by Trump’s racist immigration policies. We will continue to fight every single day until those impacted by the bans are reunited with their families.”
Source: CAIR