Tyler: Trump should respond to concerns that this order perpetuates religious discrimination
For Immediate Release: March 6, 2017
Contact: Cherilyn Crowe / [email protected] / 202-544-4226 / Cell: 202-670-5877
Today, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty responded to the new Executive Order on immigration signed by President Donald J. Trump. Unlike the order issued January 27, this one does not prioritize certain faiths for refugees.
Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, issued the following response:
“By removing the preference for refugees of minority religions, the revised order acknowledges a fundamental principle of our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom: We do not preference certain faiths over others.
The Baptist Joint Committee remains concerned that this administration is using religious identity as a proxy for ‘security threat’ and a reason for exclusion. To respond to these concerns and the widespread perception that this order perpetuates religious discrimination, President Trump must renounce his prior comments calling for a Muslim ban and condemn anti-Muslim bigotry in all its forms.”
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Visit this link to read our statement on the Jan. 27 order, noting that it was a “back-door bar on Muslim refugees”
Based in Washington, D.C., the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is an 81-year-old organization working to defend religious freedom for all people and protect the institutional separation of church and state in the historic Baptist tradition.
