Washington, DC – In light of renewed efforts by the administration to surveil, “vet,” and otherwise unjustly target Muslims, Muslim Advocates filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, urging the administration to release information regarding the newly announced “National Vetting Center” and a draft Department of Homeland Security report recommending that authorities surveil Sunni Muslim immigrants.

• Click here to read the FOIA on Muslim surveillance.
• Click here to read the FOIA on the “National Vetting Center.”

According to Matthew Callahan, staff attorney at Muslim Advocates, “The Trump administration has used every tool at its disposal to discriminate against Muslims. Witness each Muslim ban iteration, each refugee ban attempt, the Trusted Traveler revocations, and now, this ongoing surveillance proposal and ambiguous ‘vetting’ center.  When combined with DHS’s new social media policy, the supplemental questionnaire for visa applicants, and the DOJ / DHS report that baselessly fear-mongered about immigrants, the administration’s aim is clear: to track and target vulnerable communities. The nation deserves to know more information about these efforts.”

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Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.