[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H708-H711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MUSLIM BAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2019, the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, as part of the incredible, large class of
members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, I am really proud to
be here helping my colleagues translate a number of policy positions
and issues and in being able to translate that into action to various
policies and to be able to express that.
So this Special Order is very, very much an integral part of
organizing within our caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, on
what we call frontline community issues. So I want to thank my
colleagues for helping us organize today a Special Order hour to
declare loudly and very clearly to every Muslim American and to Muslims
around the world that the House of Representatives will not stand idly
by as this administration continues to enforce its racist Muslim ban.
So with that I really rise today to send a message to marginalized
communities everywhere that through our work to repeal the Muslim ban
we are preventing racist bans from ever happening again.
I am so incredibly grateful for Congresswoman Chu's leadership of the
National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act, or what
we call the NO BAN Act. I thank Congresswoman Chu for her leadership
and courage to stand up to those who try to target folks based on their
faith.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy
Chu).
Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman
Tlaib for putting this Special Order hour together. I truly appreciate
it, especially during this very, very significant week.
Monday marked the third anniversary of the Muslim ban. We had a press
conference on that day. It was incredible to see the Senators and the
House Members and so many groups of great diverse backgrounds all
coming together to say that now is the time to pass H.R. 2214, the NO
BAN Act.
The failure of this ban was apparent the day it began. I will never
forget that day in January of 2017, just 3 years ago, when Donald Trump
announced his first Muslim ban, creating chaos and separating families
with no justification. I was on my way to a community event when I
received a frantic call about 50 Muslims who were being detained at LAX
for hours with no end in sight, despite the fact that they had green
cards and were legal.
At that point I decided to drop everything and help in any way I
could. I rushed over to LAX to advocate for these people, and once I
arrived I found out that indeed there were scores of people there with
a legal right to be here kept for hours with little food and blocked
from receiving legal advice from an attorney. It was outrageous.
When I pressed Customs and Border Protection for answers, they
resisted and blocked me. I even got them on the phone only to have them
hang up on me. I had never been more disrespected as a Member of
Congress, but disrespect and chaos is what this Muslim ban is all
about.
The pain and psychological trauma this travel ban has caused are long
lasting, spouses and fiances being separated, weddings, funerals and
graduations have been missed. People have not been able to come to take
care of sick ones. Over 5,000 adopted children of U.S. citizens cannot
join their families. None of these people are a threat to the U.S., and
we have every way of knowing that through our extensive vetting
process. But they have been made victims of this hateful ban
nonetheless.
It just doesn't have to be this way. When the Supreme Court upheld
the President's ability to issue these bans, the Court also required
the administration to grant waivers to ensure that the program had a
legitimate national security interest. But despite that requirement,
the State Department has approved only 10 percent of these applicants.
That means that the Trump administration believes that 90 percent of
all travelers from these countries are threats to our national
security, and it renders this waiver process virtually nonexistent.
That is outrageous. That is why we have to fight back, and that is
why last spring I introduced the NO BAN Act with Senator Chris Coons,
which is the best way to reclaim Congress' power and stop this ban.
First, it would repeal all three versions of President Trump's Muslim
ban, putting an immediate end to this family separation.
Second, it requires a report on the total number of waivers that were
granted and the total number that were denied, so we know the truth
about what has happened.
Third, our bill says that if a President does want to implement such
a ban in the future he would actually have to prove actual evidence of
a threat. This ensures in the future no individuals are denied entry
into the U.S. based solely on their religion.
{time} 2030
With the President confirming that he now wants to expand this ban to
even more countries, now is the time to act.
The response to the NO BAN Act has been tremendous: 214 Members of
Congress have cosponsored the bill in the House, and over 480 groups
have endorsed it; 39 Members of the Senate are cosponsors.
In September of 2019, the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs
Committees held a joint hearing that examined how few waivers have been
granted to individuals since the ban was issued, even though most
people applying for entry into the U.S. pose no threat to our country.
Just this week, Chairman Nadler announced that the bill will be
marked up in the Judiciary Committee in 2 weeks, and Speaker Pelosi
announced that the NO BAN Act will be brought to the floor for a vote.
This vote cannot happen soon enough for people like Ismail Alghazali,
who will be my guest at the State of the Union next week. Ismail is a
U.S. citizen who works at a small neighborhood market in New York, and,
in 2013, he married his wife, Hend, in Yemen. Hend applied for a visa
to join her husband in the U.S., but before her interview at the U.S.
Embassy in Djibouti, Trump's hateful Muslim ban went into effect.
Hend was 8 months pregnant, and her pregnancy has been difficult.
Doctors had discovered she had a heart condition. Ismail and Hend hoped
that that meant that they would be granted a waiver due to medical
reasons. But after an interview that lasted just 5 minutes, Hend was
denied a visa and left to give birth in Djibouti, while Ismail had to
return to the U.S. He was not able to witness the birth of his first
child.
Last year, in April, Hend gave birth to another daughter, and Ismail
has not been able to even meet his daughter for several months because
of the ban. Luckily, however, the family has now been reunited in the
United States.
But too many others are left waiting for no reason, other than the
President's prejudice.
We have every ability to vet people like Hend as we have done for
years.
[[Page H709]]
Leaving families divided by this ban is a choice. That is why we need
the NO BAN Act. It is essential that we take away the President's power
to put prejudice into policy before more countries and more families
are impacted by this hateful ban.
Madam Speaker, I thank all my colleagues who are here tonight for
their steadfast support of this bill, and I thank Congresswoman Tlaib.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, as one of its first acts, this White House
decided to ban Muslims from entering the United States by issuing an
executive order prohibiting the entry of nationals of certain Muslim-
majority countries.
The people this administration banned are not all the same. They
represent a diverse array of countries and cultures, including Arab
communities, Black communities, Southeast Asian communities, amongst so
many others.
All around our Nation, especially in Michigan's 13th District strong,
we understand just how dangerous this administration's racist Muslim
ban is for our families. The Muslim ban fuels anti-Muslim violence and
discrimination. It promotes the dangerous myth that Muslims are
inherently foreign, violent, and pose a threat to the United States.
The Muslim ban also harms children. In the 2 years since it went into
effect, countless families have been needlessly separated. People have
been denied access to lifesaving medical treatments. Children have been
denied their parents, access to their grandparents, and family members
have missed births, deaths, weddings, and funerals for loved ones.
I rise today to say that Muslims and Muslim Americans are our
friends, our neighbors, and our family members--and, yes, they are also
Members of Congress.
This White House might not like that fact very much, because the
racist Muslim ban represents the Federal Government's endorsement of an
anti-Muslim discrimination culture. The policy endorses a fear-
mongering campaign that only serves to dehumanize and divide, and it
leads us to question if this White House has any plans for our country
that are not centered on hate or greed.
I am extremely troubled that this federally sanctioned discrimination
has contributed to a significant spike in hate crimes against American
Muslims and attacks on mosques in Muslim communities all across the
country.
That is why, as Members of Congress, we must put an end to
discrimination by passing the NO BAN Act. We have over 200 Members of
Congress who support and cosponsor this NO BAN Act.
As introduced, the NO BAN Act would immediately rescind the Muslim
ban and stop discriminatory orders and abuses of authority by this
administration, thanks to the leadership of Congresswoman Judy Chu.
By ending the Muslim ban, the NO BAN Act will also get us close to
ending the extreme number of increasing religious discrimination within
our immigration system now.
The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, INA, to
prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion and ensure that no
President ever again will be able to ban an entire community without
accountability.
I urge my colleagues in the House leadership to bring the NO BAN Act
to the floor as soon as possible, because our communities cannot wait.
Minority communities across our country and, indeed, the international
community are eager for action that repeals the Muslim ban.
As someone who is raising two Muslim boys in our country, I can tell
you they struggle now even sharing about their faith and even worried
about the rhetoric that they hear from various folks in school, but
also just in passing, not only through social media, but through
different kinds of conversations that they are hearing where they talk
about not only folks who are of the Muslim faith, but folks of various
immigrant communities. And being two sons of a father who is also an
immigrant, they now really struggle very much in feeling that they can
be open.
At 9 years old, my son, who is now 14, remembers me--I remember
speaking to his father about a terrible ad, a cartoon that was put in
USA Today, where it depicted Muslims in a certain way that would evoke
violence towards Muslim Americans. I remember talking to his father at
that moment and just kind of whispering to him: This is terrible. I
can't believe they are doing this. This is just going to invoke people
to really hate and even want to kill Muslims.
And my son, who came into the bedroom, said: Don't worry, Mama. If
anybody asks if I am Muslim, I will tell them that I am not.
That is the kind of culture that we create by allowing these kinds of
discriminatory policies to be placed and for us to allow it to be
codified through executive orders and allow it to go without any
action.
I ran a campaign to take on hate, which really started in Michigan,
but was implemented throughout the country in about 12 communities.
And one of the things that young people understand is you have got to
take on hate with action. You can't sit idly back--because people just
thought: Well, this doesn't impact me--but really trying to understand
that it does connect all of us; because this form of othering in the
culture that you see within the administration is real and it is
dangerous, and sitting idly by and not doing anything about it, to me,
will increase that form of hate towards people of different faiths.
And trust me, it is not just about Muslims. It is about other kinds
of faiths, people of different ethnic backgrounds.
This, in essence, is creating this kind of hate culture that we can't
see, not only in our American society, but it is also festering within
our school culture and with our young people again questioning
constantly with identity and allowing this kind of othering to be
normalized through acts like this executive order.
When you hear Muslim leaders and those talk about the separation that
happens, I remember at Bridging Communities in southwest Detroit, we
had a press conference with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell fighting back
against the separation of families, and it all stemmed around: Well, I
didn't understand there was supposed to have been a waiver.
Well, everyone should know, many of the people we represent who are
coming to our offices were not granted waivers.
And we are talking about people who are married, who have legal
access through the immigration, but for the Muslim ban, and are not
able to reunify with their family members.
I have two young children who can't see their father because of the
Muslim ban.
I have folks who had a green card, had access to the United States,
but when this got implemented, because it was implemented in a way
where there was no notice, no policy, no procedures, no structure in
place for folks on the ground to understand what was going on, that is
why we saw what we saw, the overwhelming call for action and people
showing up to airports all across the country saying: No, not now, not
ever.
It is really important that we do it through action within the
Congress, and I hope my colleagues understand this should be bipartisan
support.
This is religious discrimination. This is one of our core values as
Americans. We are founded on religious freedom. And for us to allow,
again, targeting of folks solely based on their faith, to me, repeats
history. We have done it in the past; and it wasn't right then, and it
isn't right now.
And I think I can speak on behalf of Muslim Americans. They do not
want to wait for an apology. Apology is not enough. They want action
today. They know this is discriminatory. They know this is bias. They
know this is targeting Muslims.
And, yes, it is leading to, again, increased hate crimes towards
Muslims in huge amounts across the country; and so it is critical that
we act, that we don't sit silently by, because doing nothing is not an
option anymore. So I urge the House leadership to bring this NO BAN Act
forward to the floor as soon as possible.
I really commend the incredible leadership of many of our colleagues,
especially my good colleague from Indiana, Congressman Andre Carson,
whom I lovingly call the dean of the Muslim Caucus.
Yes, we are your neighbors; we are your advocates; we are your
doctors, your teachers, and all of those things, and also your Members
of Congress.
[[Page H710]]
And so, again, it is really critically important that we push back
against this ban.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson).
Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank
Congresswoman Tlaib for her leadership, for her friendship, for all
that she does not for just her constituents, but for Muslims, non-
Muslims, and Americans.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the NO BAN Act, which was a
great opportunity for me to be a coauthor, and I urge Congress to
swiftly pass this legislation.
Madam Speaker, in the 3 years since President Trump implemented his
Muslim ban, its dangerous impact is clearer than ever: Families remain
torn apart, America is less respected around the world, and our country
isn't any safer.
But for this President and for all of those who crafted this ban,
this policy was never about national security. Since his first day in
office, he has worked to advance a dangerous white nationalist agenda,
and the Muslim ban is its cornerstone.
It is no surprise, then, that he may be planning to expand this ban
to even more countries, many in Africa, which he has previously
described in some of the most vulgar and offensive ways.
As a Muslim and as a Black man, it pains me to witness this low
moment in our country. It is not the only time America has shut its
doors to people in need simply because of their race, ethnicity, and
nationality; but, thankfully, we can make it the last time. Madam
Speaker, that is why it is so important that we pass the NO BAN Act to
end the Muslim ban and make sure history no longer repeats itself in
this way.
Our legislation has more than 200 cosponsors in the House and the
endorsement of nearly 400 diverse civil rights, faith, national
security, and community organizations. Americans of all backgrounds are
behind this great bill and are demanding Congress to pass it, to take a
bold stand against bigotry. So I am extremely pleased that the NO BAN
Act is expected to be taken up by the Judiciary Committee next month.
As my colleague, Congresswoman Tlaib said, and I want to reaffirm,
Muslims are part of what makes this country great.
{time} 2045
Muslims have been a part of this country since the inception of what
we now know to be America. Ever since those West African slaves were
brought here to America, Muslims have contributed to our country.
Go to any major courtroom, and you will find a Muslim lawyer, maybe a
judge. Go to any major hospital in this great country, and you will
find a Muslim physician. There are Muslim engineers, Muslim scientists,
Muslim educators, Muslim politicians. You have three in Congress. We
will see more in the future, God willing.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues and all Americans who believe in
equality for all people to support the NO BAN Act. Together, we will
get it passed and begin a new chapter in our country's history.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Indiana.
I really appreciate the incredible public service that not only stems
here but, as you all know, many of our servicemen and women who are of
Muslim faith are serving our country every single day.
Again, people need not try to separate us as not being part of this
amazing country. The Muslim ban completely tears that down and comes
from, again, a place of hate that we need to push back against.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms.
Jayapal), who I really honor and respect, the co-chair of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus, my good colleague, one of the
fighters within this Chamber every single day for communities of color
and marginalized communities.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her
incredible leadership. It has been wonderful working with her not just
here in this body and in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which I
am proud to co-chair, but for years we have known each other and worked
together. It is wonderful to have her here to talk about this issue and
her leadership on this issue, really the kind of leadership that
America needs to show by passing the NO BAN Act.
Three years ago, I had just been elected to Congress, and it was
within my first weeks here that Donald Trump issued his first Muslim
ban. When that happened, I thought back to after 9/11--that is actually
when I started becoming very involved in politics as an activist. We
faced some similar situations of Muslims, Arab Americans, and others
being targeted simply for their religion, their ethnicity, their place
of origin.
The good news is that I knew what to do, which is that I immediately
rushed to the airport. That Muslim ban created irreparable harm on
Muslim families, here at home, but also around the world.
We had generals in our military testify that we desperately need to
have our allies and that some of those allies are, in fact, Muslims who
help us in other countries.
When I heard the news and rushed to SeaTac Airport, I saw absolute
chaos, chaos that was caused by an administration that put forward a
Muslim ban with no preparation, no notification, no planning at all for
the kind of harm, irreparable harm, that would be caused for American
citizens, for lawful residents, and for international visitors.
Today, families remain separated from their loved ones, American
businesses, and research institutions. I have many of those research
institutions in my district and many American businesses in my district
that are not able to recruit the best minds from abroad.
Our Nation's doors are closed to people seeking safety from violence,
war, and persecution.
But it wasn't just then. The chaos has not stopped.
Earlier this month, up to 200 Iranian Americans--almost all the ones
that we know of are U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, green-
card holders--were unjustly detained at the U.S.-Canada border in my
own State of Washington.
In the days after the Muslim ban, I had introduced the Access to
Counsel Act, an act that once again was so important as we watched
these detentions of Iranian Americans, who, by the way, travel across
the border regularly. In fact, some of them travel across the border so
much that they have expedited processing.
What that means is that you go through additional security screening
so that you can get a card that you hold up at the northern border as
you cross the border. You don't need anything else other than that
expedited screening, that extra security screening in order to cross
the border.
But that day, we believe over 200 Iranian Americans were stopped at
the border, U.S. citizens, legal green-card holders, simply because
they were of Iranian descent.
The Access to Counsel Act, which we hope to mark up and bring to the
floor at the same time as the NO BAN Act, just says that if you were
here as a U.S. citizen, a legal permanent resident, or have any legal
status and you are put through this unjust secondary screening, that at
least you can have access to counsel, not counsel paid for by the
government, but just counsel provided either through your own pocket or
through nonprofits that provide that service, because people are being
deported in an expedited manner.
In fact, that is what happened in Seattle 3 years ago when I rushed
to the airport when the Muslim ban was first introduced. We actually
were able to, at the airport, get a temporary injunction from a judge
that allowed us to essentially go and stop a plane on the tarmac that
was ready to take off with some people who should not have been
deported.
We were able to stop that plane from taking off, thanks to the courts
and the incredible speed of attorneys and nonprofit organizations that
came together and filed for a temporary injunction. That allowed us to
stop the plane and to stop people from actually being deported.
It is not right that we are seeing U.S. citizens detained by CBP for
up to 9 hours without a chance to speak to a lawyer simply because they
weren't born here, even though they are United States citizens.
It is not right that students with visas have increasingly been
rejected at our airports and deported without a
[[Page H711]]
chance to speak to a lawyer, when people have legal status in the
United States.
It is not right that they are subjected to a second loyalty test
simply because of their religion or their place of birth or their
ethnicity.
Madam Speaker, I am one of only 14 immigrants in the United States
Congress, out of 535 naturalized citizens, who have the great honor and
privilege of being a United States citizen. I don't want us to think
that we have separate loyalty tests that we have to go through. We have
examples of that--the Japanese internment, 123,000 Americans of
Japanese ancestry who were put into internment camps simply for being
Japanese American.
The reality is we need the NO BAN Act to repeal President Trump's
Muslim ban and stop any future President from implementing future
discriminatory bans.
I am very grateful to my colleague, Congresswoman Judy Chu, chair of
the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, for introducing and
championing this critical bill to send an important message to our
Muslim brothers and sisters here and abroad that America believes in
religious liberty and that we remain committed to welcoming people
regardless of their faith, regardless of the country in which they were
born.
In recent weeks, we have heard that an expanded Muslim ban may be
coming from the Trump administration this week. Let me be very clear:
Each iteration of these bans sends a terrible message to Muslims, to
those who are targeted, that our foundational value of freedom of
religion does not apply to them.
An expanded Muslim ban will only worsen our relationships with
countries around the world, and it will not make our country safer. It
will harm refugees. It will isolate us from our allies. It will give
extremists propaganda for recruitment. It will be a different Muslim
ban pushed by the same xenophobic administration, and it will have the
same negative ramifications as past versions of the Muslim ban.
Madam Speaker, I just had the opportunity to come back from a codel
to Sudan with a number of our Members, Republican and Democrat. This is
a country that is transitioning from a 30-year dictatorship to a
democracy, a civilian-led government. That was powered by a people's
revolution in the streets that inspired us here in the United States
and around the world, people who sat and peacefully protested a brutal
dictatorship. Over 200 people were shot and killed in those peaceful
protests on June 3.
Madam Speaker, Sudan has been supposedly added to this next round of
countries that may be added to the Muslim ban. The people of Sudan said
to us, Republican and Democratic Representatives of the United States
Government: ``Doesn't America believe in democracy, in transition?''
Why would Sudan, with a people's revolution that led to a democratic
government through the overthrow of a dictator who has been in power
for the last 30 years, why would Sudan be on a list of countries that
have these restrictions and be part of this ban? That sends the totally
wrong message.
As the vice chair of the Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on
Immigration and Citizenship, I will do everything in my power to resist
the Muslim ban and demand liberty and justice for all, without any
caveats.
We must pass the NO BAN Act to end not just the Muslim ban but other
anti-immigrant policies pushed by this administration. Most
importantly, we must pass the NO BAN Act to remind ourselves again of
who we are as a country, a country that has welcomed people from all
over the world, including myself.
I came here as a 16-year-old with nothing in my pockets, by myself,
and to now be standing here in the United States Congress, my
responsibility--our responsibility as a body is to preserve those
foundational values of freedom and justice and religious tolerance.
Madam Speaker, I look forward to passing the NO BAN Act. I thank
Representative Tlaib for her friendship, for her leadership, and for
all that she does to advance justice. On behalf of the Progressive
Caucus, 100-members strong, we are so glad to have her in it.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. Her incredible
leadership and mentorship are so inspiring but also completely fuels my
commitment to be centered around social justice and equality.
Madam Speaker, I wanted to make sure that we talk about the fact that
because of the Muslim ban and some of the kind of hate agenda policies
that we see coming out of the administration, it all has resulted in an
increase of hate crimes that still is underreported and has not, I
think, truly, under this administration, been documented by the FBI.
Even when the current President just called for a total and complete
shutdown on Muslims entering the United States, just days after that
report, hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs nationwide spiked up 23
percent.
As we hear about the various kinds of hate crimes, we get some of
these complaints and incidents being reported to even our offices. I
wanted to make sure that we talk about the fact that the FBI, when it
released its report this past year, that Muslim advocates in their
statement--which is very accurate, based on what we hear of our
community members at home--said that, yet again, the FBI annual
statistics on hate crimes show us that the worrying numbers of Muslims,
Jews, Sikhs, and Latinos being victimized by hate crimes are not being
reported, or the data does not reflect that. It is not a complete,
accurate picture of the epidemic of hate that continues to threaten the
safety of so many Americans across the country.
Last year, an armed man drove a truck into a convenience store in
Louisiana because he suspected the owners were Muslims. Also in March
last year, a man deliberately tried to drive his car into a Muslim
family in a parking lot in California and managed to strike the father
twice.
Both are clear examples of hate crimes. Neither of those were
included in the FBI's data on hate crimes.
Madam Speaker, it is completely unacceptable. As we push for the NO
BAN Act, I also want to try to encourage my colleagues to try to have
hearings and discuss the importance of accurate data around hate crimes
increasing across the country. That is why we have to pass the Khalid
Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act to improve the hate crime
reporting data collection.
{time} 2100
Many of the organizations that support the NO BAN Act also want to
see a much better reflection of the data being reported by the FBI
around hate crime.
The only way we are able to promote or push back against these forms
of hate that lead to violence, and even death, for so many folks that
are impacted by these forms of racist policies and hateful agenda
policies, is to be able to document and to push back against it.
So I really appreciate a number of my colleagues, over 200 Members
that support the NO BAN Act, and I look forward to finally being able
to vote for it on the floor.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
____________________