Muslim Advocates August Update

NO BAN ACT

Earlier this month, Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) reintroduced the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (“NO BAN”) Act. The “NO BAN” Act would prevent future bans on Muslim communities. It would also prevent other similar discriminatory measures by strengthening the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion and by ensuring that any use of the authority to suspend entry into the country is narrowly tailored and follows appropriate consultation with Congress.

Muslim Advocates has worked with members of Congress, impacted families, and partner organizations in the No Muslim Ban Ever coalition for years to support the bill that was first introduced in 2019. Learn more about this important milestone.

THE MUSLIM ADVOCATES LEGAL TEAM IS GROWING 

Through the generous support of our community of supporters, Muslim Advocates is expanding. We’re proud to welcome Sadaf Hasan as a new Staff Attorney. Her work has covered issues on immigrant justice, surveillance, police misconduct, wrongful convictions, and low-wage worker’s rights. Most recently, Sadaf was an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Brooklyn Defender Services where she worked closely with non-citizen and immigrant communities at the intersections of the criminal, immigration, and family legal systems. As a public defender, Sadaf represented clients in deportation proceedings and complex applications before USCIS through a holistic defense model.

Additionally, we’re also excited to welcome three new board leaders:

• Baher Azmy, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights
• Aasiya Mirza Glover, Attorney at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP
• Jonathan J. Smith, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice

JOIN US IN NEW YORK ON OCTOBER 3rd

We hope you can join us on Thursday, October 3 in New York City for “From Resistance to Renewal”, an in-person gathering grounded in art, advocacy, and connection with our community partners working to achieve lasting social change. We’ll gather at the Midtown Loft & Terrace where attendees will meet the Muslim Advocates team, learn how we’re working on behalf of our community this fall, and connect with others who support our mission. 

This year we are excited to welcome Warshan Shire to bring words of inspiration and encouragement for our guests.  Shire is a Somali-British writer and poet whose debut collection Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (2022) was translated into 15 languages and was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize, Griffin Poetry Prize, Forward Prize, and Dylan Thomas Prize. She also had two chapbooks published; Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth (2011)  and Her Blue Body (2015). We are honored to have her join us for this evening of community and art.