September 25, 2019
Issue: Muslim Ban
Huffington Post – Nearly 3 Years Later, Congress Finally Holds First Muslim Ban Hearing
On 9/24/19, Congress held its first ever hearing on the Muslim Ban, which featured testimony from Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Khera and Ismail Alghazali, a victim of the ban and a client of Muslim Advocates. The hearing was also a showcase for the NO BAN Act, a bill to end the Muslim Ban and establish safeguards preventing future presidents from enacting a similar religious ban again. Click here to read an article from the Huffington Post’s Rowaida Abdelaziz about the historic hearing.
Over 160 Democrats have already co-sponsored the bill, including all three Muslim members of Congress: Reps. André Carson (D-Ind.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Advocacy groups have called on the remaining 60-plus House Democratic members, including top leadership, to also co-sponsor what they say should be simple, noncontroversial civil rights legislation.
‘We are pleased with the support we already have ― over 150 Democrats on the House side. But we do believe that there’s really no reason why all Democrats should not be on this bill,’ Farhana Khera, the president and director of Muslim Advocates, told HuffPost ahead of the hearing. Khera is one of the witnesses who will testify during Tuesday’s hearing.
‘Frankly, every member of Congress should be supporting this bill, but especially the Democrats, who are the champions today, more than ever, of freedom, justice and equality in our country,’ Khera added.