- Title: Muslim leaders file 'broad' lawsuit against Trump immigration ban
- Date: 30th January 2017
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) WIDE OF LEADERS OF CAIR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS, AT THE PODIUM FOR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) LENA MASRI, NATIONAL LITIGATION DIRECTOR AND ACTING CIVIL RIGHTS DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR), SAYING: "This afternoon we filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia challenging what has been referred to as the Muslim ban which was signed by President Trump this past Friday. This lawsuit is a broad constitutional challenge and it was filed on behalf of over 20 Muslims consisting of both Americans and non-citizens that are lawfully residing in the United States. Let me be clear, this is not a Muslim ban simply. It is a Muslim exclusion order." (SOUNDBITE) (English) GADEIR ABBAS, CO-COUNSEL, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR), SAYING: "President Trump's actions are not simply words on paper. They're the grandest monument to anti-Muslim sentiment America has ever known." (WHITE FLASH) (SOUNDBITE) (English) GADEIR ABBAS, CO-COUNSEL, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR), SAYING: "We're not talking about the 15th Amendment or an amendment later in the teens or the 20s. We're talking about the very first amendment of the Constitution which prohibits a government from favoring one faith over another. And there are few times in American history where the government has officially disfavored a whole a religious faith and this is one of those instances." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHEREEF AKEEL, CO-COUNSEL, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR), SAYING: "Make no mistake our First Amendment was attacked last week at its fundamental core and its unprecedented what has occurred. For the first time there's a broad proclamation that our country has issued an edict that it prefers one religion over another. That would make our founding fathers roll in their graves because that's the whole reason why they came here to America -- to escape religious persecution." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) GADEIR ABBAS, CO-COUNSEL, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR), SAYING: "The Constitution redundantly prohibits the government from discriminating against religions. There are more than one provision in the Constitution that does that. And it's important to understand that the injury is not simply limited to those that are affected in their ability to enter and exit. The injury is being felt very viscerally by the Muslim American community across the country because of the message that it broadcasts." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIHAD AWAD, NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR), SAYING: "Our community is not alone to be concerned about his (Trump's) harmful rhetoric and now his dangerous policies. Millions of Americans are very very concerned about the direction in which he's taking our country. Millions of people who love America, individuals and countries, are concerned and worried (about) what this president is doing. Unconventional, we understand. Creative? Maybe. But also dangerously making policies and statements that we believe undermine our national security, our values, and our standing in the world." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 13th February 2017 19:23
- Keywords: U.S. President Donald Trump immigration Muslim ban CAIR Council on American Islamic Relations
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001619XLJB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Muslim leaders filed a federal lawsuit in Virginia on Monday (January 30) against President Donald Trump's Muslim immigration ban, calling it an 'unprecedented edict' that the U.S. government prefers one religion over another.
"We're talking about the very first amendment of the Constitution which prohibits a government from favoring one faith over another," said attorney Gadeir Abbas, co-counsel at the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), during a news conference.
"There are few times in American history where the government has officially disfavored a whole a religious faith and this is one of those instances," he said.
Trump on Friday halted the arrival of refugees and imposed a temporary travel ban on travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, to help protect U.S. citizens from terrorist attacks.
"Make no mistake, our First Amendment was attacked last week at its fundamental core and it's unprecedented what has occurred," attorney Shereef Akeel, also co-Counsel at CAIR said during the news conference.
The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District Court of Virginia on behalf of twenty individuals, with the defendants named as President Donald Trump, Homeland Security secretary John Kelly, the U.S. State Department and the Director of National Intelligence.
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the so-called Muslim ban initiates "the mass expulsion of immigrant and nonimmigrant Muslims lawfully residing in the United States by denying them the ability to renew their lawful status … based solely on their religious beliefs."
Chaos broke out over the weekend as border, customs and immigration officials struggled to act on the directive amid loud protests at major U.S. airports.
Congressional Democrats and some foreign nations, including key U.S. allies, put pressure on Trump on Monday over his ban on entry to America by refugees and people from seven predominantly Muslim countries. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None