US Muslims Sue Trump Over 'Racist' Refugee Ban

On Friday the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced they will file a federal lawsuit on behalf of more than 20 individuals to challenge the "Muslim ban" executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

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The legal challenge will attack the constitutionality of Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from seven majority Muslim countries— while allowing Christian refugees applying from the same countries— because “its apparent purpose and underlying motive is to ban people of the Islamic faith…from entering the United States,” according to a press release issued by CAIR on Friday evening.

"There is no evidence that refugees – the most thoroughly vetted of all people entering our nation – are a threat to national security," said CAIR National Litigation Director Lena F. Masri. "This is an order that is based on bigotry, not reality."

"The American Muslim community has been the target of discriminatory policies for many years now," Masri added. “Generally speaking at this time the Muslim community is being attacked by this order. It’s important for Americans to stand together and rise together.”

Even before CAIR’s announcement of the lawsuit, people around the world condemned Trump’s move, connecting it to other similarly racist policy attacks announced this week.

Disappointed at media headlines referring to #MuslimBan using Trump's "radical Islamic terrorists" frame. Say it for what it is: racism.

— Mai El-Sadany (@maitelsadany) January 27, 2017

This isn't about national security. It's about white supremacy. #RefugeesWelcome #MuslimBan #NoBanNoWall

— Arjun Sethi (@arjunsethi81) January 27, 2017

Citing vague concerns about “radical Islamic terrorism” Trump announced on Friday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, that he will impose a blanket ban on all refugees from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. In the same order he said he would make an exception for Christian fleeing those same countries, all of which are currently under some form of attack by the U.S. government.

"The courts must do what President Trump will not—ensure that our government refrains from segregating people based on their faith," concluded Gadeir Abbas, co-counsel on the lawsuit.