WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), and 24 of their colleagues sent a letter to Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ur M. Jaddou. The letter urges them to expedite the resettlement applications of refugees who were in the final stages of processing when the refugee-specific Muslim Ban was issued in October 2017.
More than 300 refugees were in the final stages of being admitted to the U.S. when former President Trump issued the Muslim Ban, including some who were just one flight away to resettle in Rep. Pocan’s district with family.
“We write to express our concern that refugees who were in the final stages of resettlement when the Muslim Ban was issued continue to be banned from the United States. Media reports highlight the challenges these refugees face, whether in the form of unexplained denials or undue delays, when attempting to enter the country. While President Biden revoked the ban on January 20, 2021, for hundreds of refugees the “Muslim Ban” has not ended. We urge you to remedy this situation immediately.
“We applaud President Biden’s commitment to ending the Muslim Ban and to welcoming more refugees into the country. We urge your agencies to act on this commitment by fully implementing the settlement in JFS of Seattle v. Trump as quickly as possible and by expediting the resettlement applications of those who were in the final stages of entering the U.S. when the refugee-specific Muslim Ban was announced,” the letter continues. “[Government data released as part of a settlement] suggests that these denials are a result of the Muslim Ban or agency actions taken in furtherance of the Ban, and we call on your administration to fulfill the commitment it made to review and remedy such discriminatory impact.”
“We must ensure that the Muslim Ban and the hate it signified are truly a thing of the past.”
The letter was also signed by Representatives Donald S. Beyer Jr., Jamaal Bowman, Yvette D. Clarke, Mark DeSaulnier, Debbie Dingell, Adriano Espaillat, Dwight Evans, Jesús G. “Chuy” García, Raúl M. Grijalva, Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr., Barbara Lee, Andy Levin, Alan Lowenthal, James P. McGovern, Grace Meng, Gwen Moore, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamie Raskin, Jan Schakowsky, Ritchie Torres, Rashida Tlaib, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Peter Welch.
See the full letter here.
