Flushing, New York – On March 6, 2017, the President signed an executive order that bans immigration from six Muslim-majority countries and suspends the United States’ refugee program. This order revises and replaces an order signed on January 27 that suffered numerous defeats at the courts, culminating in a total injunction against the order from the 9th Circuit.
The President is turning his inflammatory rhetoric and hate into federal policy, and this intensely divisive climate has already had devastating consequences. This weekend, a Sikh man was shot in Washington. The week before, Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot and killed in Kansas. Both shootings are believed to be racially motivated.
The new executive order runs counter to the MinKwon Center’s mission and values, and James Hong, Interim Executive Director, released the following statement:
“These executive orders can be revised a thousand more times, but the intent has always been clear. The travel ban has never been about public safety. Rather, the Trump administration is using xenophobia and Islamophobia to divide the nation, discriminate against immigrants based on religion, and ignore a growing humanitarian refugee crisis. Since its founding in 1984, the Minkwon Center for Community Action has worked to improve the lives of our immigrant communities, and as such, we continue to strongly oppose the Trump administration’s draconian policies designed to shut the doors on immigrants. We are proud to stand with our South Asian and Muslim allies against these hateful measures.”
For more information, contact:
James Hong