9 Jewish Groups Push Back Against Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban
WASHINGTON — Nine Jewish groups are among over 30 organizations backing a bill that would bar banning entry to the United States on the basis of religion, an initiative sparked by Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim entry.
“Concerns about national security are mixing with unchecked anti-Muslim bigotry and fomenting unjust fear and scrutiny of Muslim refugees and immigrants,” said the statement released Tuesday, a day before Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., is due to unveil the legislation.
“Sadly, that fear has led some to call for a temporary ban on Muslims immigrating to the U.S., to propose dramatically limiting the number of refugees our nation accepts, and to pursue a host of policies designed to make life difficult for Muslims in America,” the statement said. “To close our doors to Muslim immigrants and refugees in need would betray both the First Amendment and our nation’s great history as an open and welcoming land.”
Trump, the real estate magnate and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is not named in the statement, but he has proposed banning entry to Muslims, including refugees from the civil war in Syria. Republicans who have dropped out of the race also have proposed measures targeting Muslims.
A broad array of Jewish groups condemned Trump’s proposal when he first made it in December.
The groups joining the call to back Beyer’s bill include umbrella bodies for the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements, as well as the Anti-Defamation League, the National Council of Jewish Women, J Street, Habonim Dror, Bend the Arc Jewish Action and T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.
The statement was organized by Interfaith Alliance, a group directed by Rabbi Jack Moline, and other groups backing the initiative include Muslim, Protestant and Roman Catholic bodies.
Also included is the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, a group that backs inter-group dialogue and that particularly has promoted Muslim-Jewish encounters.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30