Washington, DC — On Saturday, news broke that President-elect Joe Biden will sign an executive order rescinding the Muslim Ban on Wednesday, January 20. Last month, Muslim Advocates met with the Biden transition team and sent incoming Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice a letter and memo underscoring the importance of this repeal and outlining additional steps necessary from the administration to reunite families as quickly as possible. To fight the ban, Muslim Advocates also filed seven federal lawsuits, mobilized corporations and hundreds of groups and led the coalition supporting the NO BAN Act—a bill to prevent future presidents from enacting discriminatory bans. 

 

• Read the letter to Incoming Domestic Policy Council Director Rice

• Read Muslim Advocates’ Memo

 

Muslim Advocates has served as a legal, political and community leader in the fight against the Muslim Ban. If you would like to speak to us about the executive order or the NO BAN Act, please contact [email protected].

The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Khera:

“We thank President-elect Biden for keeping his promise to end the Muslim Ban on day one of his administration. In just a few days, millions of families will know they can be reunited and a persistent cloud of hopelessness and uncertainty will be lifted for everyone here and abroad who has been wounded by the Muslim Ban. This is an unprecedented victory for Muslims and allies, who flocked to airports to protest this ban and never stopped fighting and organizing to bring it to an end.

However, this executive action is only step one. People harmed by the ban will still need to navigate a bureaucratic minefield made even more treacherous by the Trump administration. The Biden administration must take sweeping administrative action to clear away these hurdles and reunite families as soon as humanly possible. Additionally, the administration and Congress must ensure that no president ever again can enact discriminatory bans by introducing and passing the NO BAN Act.”

Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination.

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