Senator Murray: President Trump’s latest attempt “a hateful ban on Muslims that still flies in the face of our values and everything our country stands for”
(Washington, D.C.) – Hours after President Trump’s harmful travel restrictions on foreigners from eight countries were set to go into effect, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and 28 senators on Wednesday introduced legislation to reverse Trump’s executive order and block its implementation. Specifically, the bill would withhold funding to enforce the executive order. The bill would also declare the executive order illegal based on the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which banned discrimination against immigrants on the basis of national origin. President Trump’s executive order was set to kick in at midnight on October 18th, 2017, but federal District Court judges in Hawaii and Maryland blocked portions of the ban from taking effect.
“I’m pleased the courts have rejected major portions of President Trump’s most recent travel ban and saw his actions for what they really are: a hateful ban on Muslims that still flies in the face of our values and everything our country stands for,” said Senator Murray. “No matter how many times President Trump tries to slam the doors of our country shut on refugees and immigrants, we will continue to stand up and fight back against his bigoted agenda that betrays our founding principles.”
Led by Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), in addition to Senator Murray the following senators cosponsored the legislation: U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Kamala Harris (D-CA).
A panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit blocked President Trump’s previous immigration order, citing that the ban “runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also released a memo concluding that citizenship in one of the majority Muslim countries listed on President Trump’s travel ban is an “unlikely indicator” of terrorism threats to the U.S.
