September 26, 2017
LATINO LEADERS: REVISED ‘TRAVEL BAN’ IS ATTEMPTED DISGUISE FOR MUSLIM BAN
WASHINGTON—The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 45 of the nation’s most preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, strongly opposes the revised travel ban the president issued Sunday evening. The revisions seek to restrict travel from eight countries, including five of the same majority-Muslim countries that were listed in the previous ban and adding Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela. This revised declaration does not enhance the security of the United States; rather, it is another version of the Muslim ban that the president repeatedly promised during his campaign.
NHLA previously strongly opposed the un-American refugee ban targeting Muslim-majority countries in January and will continue to stand firm against blatant discrimination disguised as national security measures. Despite the addition of two new non majority-Muslim countries, NHLA concludes that this declaration seeks to carry out a discriminatory, white supremacist agenda, and it ought to be recognized and challenged as such.
“We continue to stand in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters who will be most affected by this decision. The inclusion of countries like North Korea and Venezuela as a tactic to distract from the true intent of the ban is typical of the white supremacist actions of the president. He has used terms such as safety and security in an attempt to justify xenophobic actions. This ban is, once again, un-American and reflects further inhumane and unfair immigration policy,” said Hector Sanchez Barba, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
“Like some modern-day, sleepwalking Lady Macbeth, Donald Trump keeps trying to wash the discrimination off his Muslim ban, but his efforts won’t succeed, even with his late introduction of limited restrictions on those from Venezuela,” said Thomas A. Saenz, Vice Chair of NHLA and President and General Counsel of MALDEF. “The real stain of invidious discrimination will not go away unless and until the administration rejects and expiates its introduction of white nationalism into the White House.”
“Travel Ban 3.0 is sadly still girded to Trump’s deeply rooted xenophobia and Islamophobia. It attempts to mask its prejudice by including a sprinkling of government officials from Venezuela in the ban and insisting it is the result of considered expert analysis by several government agencies. Of course, none of that window dressing changes the facts. Discriminatory intent is discrimination, and it must be vigorously rejected politically, legally and in the public arena,” said José Calderón, Co-Chair of NHLA’s Immigration Committee and President of Hispanic Federation.
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