BJC slams new Trump travel ban as a ‘moral failure and a constitutional affront,’ supports NO BAN Act
One of the ugliest policies of the first Trump administration is back: President Donald Trump’s new travel ban prohibits or limits nationals from more than a dozen countries from entering the United States. But, there’s a way for you to oppose this policy.
This travel ban – which went into effect June 9 – fully restricts entry by nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It partially restricts entry by those from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Calling it a “moral failure and a constitutional affront,” BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler responded to the ban with a determined message of resistance and a call to action:
We must not accept a government that uses religion and ethnicity as proxies for threat. Religious freedom means freedom for all — not just those favored by those in power.
BJC has fought every iteration of this ban, and we will fight this one, too. The chaos it will create — separating families, stranding visa holders, and denying refuge to the vulnerable — is a humanitarian crisis manufactured by executive overreach. Congress must act swiftly to pass the NO BAN Act and end this abuse of authority once and for all.
The full title of the NO BAN Act is “National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act,” and it would prohibit discrimination based on religion in visa and immigration decisions. It also would require travel restrictions to be based on facts and narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest
BJC supports the NO BAN Act, and you can, too! There is a simple form you can use to ask your members of Congress to support it. Click here to contact your Representative and two Senators about this needed legislation.
The travel ban has a long history that goes back to statements candidate Trump made in 2015, and BJC was a leader in opposition to the travel ban from the beginning.
After taking office in January 2017, President Trump’s first ban blocked entrance from seven majority-Muslim countries, citing national security concerns. At the time, Tyler warned that the policy was a “back-door bar on Muslim refugees.” The administration was forced to re-issue the ban twice with new language – including to address religious discrimination claims – and the policy went to the Supreme Court with the case of Trump v. Hawaii in 2018. BJC General Counsel Holly Hollman was part of an amicus brief in that case – along with 30 other constitutional scholars — urging the Court to reject the policy under the First Amendment as hostile to Muslims. Ultimately, the Supreme Court upheld the policy as constitutional, and BJC blasted the Court’s 5-4 Trump v. Hawaii decision as a “refusal to repudiate policy rooted in animus.”
President Joe Biden repealed the travel ban on his first day in office in 2021.
This new iteration of the Trump travel ban appears to be more of the same, citing national security concerns but reeking of discrimination. Take a moment to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support the NO BAN Act.
