Rabat - Following the release of US President Donald Trump’s long-awaited follow-up travel ban, faith groups of every description have come forward to denounce it, according to the Huffington Post.
Rabat – Following the release of US President Donald Trump’s long-awaited follow-up travel ban, faith groups of every description have come forward to denounce it, according to the Huffington Post.
Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs; all are publicly calling out the new travel ban, labeling it a Muslim ban, just as the original was. NihadAwad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued the following statement; “This executive order, like the last order, is at its core a Muslim ban, which is discriminating and unconstitutional.” Other CAIR statements have dubbed the ban “Muslim Ban 2.0.”
CAIR’s sentiments are being echoed across the religious spectrum, uniting faiths in a coalition against racism and religious persecution. Church World Service, a multi-denominational organization, took to Facebook to express their disappointment in the revised ban. “Make no mistake: this rewritten version will have the same impact, while avoiding the court proceedings that kept the initial executive order from being implemented. It is a refugee ban. It is a Muslim ban.”
Some, like the Franciscan Action Network are denouncing the revised ban and, at the same time, appealing to legislators and the White House to examine their collective conscience on the wisdom of introducing such an order. “While opposing bans and harmful executive orders, we also pray for a change of hearts and minds of the Administration and legislators who support anti-refugee and anti-immigrant measures.”
One of the most poignant denouncements came from T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights organization. “The Jewish community understands all too well the danger of compromising the civil liberties of any national, ethnic or religious group, or of holding entire groups collectively responsible for the actions of individuals. Today’s executive order undermines our values and weakens the moral fiber upon which our nation stands.”
Though analysts have conceded that the new travel ban has made compromises in its wording which will make litigation more challenging, civil rights groups are vowing to do whatever is necessary to keep up the pressure to have this incarnation of the ban blocked as effectively as the original ban was.
