OCA OPPOSES THE MUSLIM BAN EXPANSION

3 February 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Maddie Schumacher | Policy Associate
202.223.5500 | maddie.schumacher@ocanational.org

Washington, DC - OCA - In the wake of the Trump administration’s Muslim Travel Ban expansion, OCA is even more committed to advocacy on behalf of our immigrant and refugee siblings. Over the weekend, and on the third anniversary of the original Muslim Ban, President Trump signed another xenophobic executive order adding six more countries to the exclusionary policy. Nationals of Myanmar, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan and Eritrea will now be prohibited from applying for immigrant visas, and nationals of Sudan and Tanzania will be barred from the U.S. diversity visa program. Under the guise of “national security,” this expansion predominantly targets African and Muslim-majority countries, despite no evidence that they pose an increased danger to the United States.

The additional bans will take effect on February 22. Enacting this order will jeopardize those seeking asylum and hoping to reunite with their families in the United States, in particular the Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar. During this week of Holocaust Rememberance, we must remember that the United States has used restrictive immigration policies to stand on the wrong side of history. The denial of asylum to Holocaust survivors left them vulnerable to continued hatred and physical danger. OCA firmly opposes this executive order that will do the same to current refugees.

“The Trump Administration continues to unravel the United State’s legacy as the land of freedom and opportunity,” says Executive Director Rita Pin Ahrens. “In December, when OCA recognized the 76th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act Repeal, we dreamed that our nation was past its painful history of xenophobic fear-mongering. Instead, U.S. policies like the Expanded Muslim Ban affirm that Muslim, Asian, and African immigrants are aggressively unwelcome here.”

OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).

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