WHEREAS, On December 7, 2015, Donald J. Trump, as a candidate for the Republican nomination of President of the United States, called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”; and
WHEREAS, On January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order entitled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” which bars all people, including Legal Permanent Residents and authorized visa holders from the countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen; and
WHEREAS, The Executive Order ban took effect immediately, causing havoc, fear, and confusion for families who had already been subject to, in many cases, years long and rigorous vetting processes; and
WHEREAS, The targeting of nations that are overwhelmingly Muslim recalls dark moments in American history when individuals or groups were singled out for special scrutiny, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the witch hunts by Senator Joseph McCarthy against alleged communists in the 1950s; and
WHEREAS, This Executive Order contravenes the principles of religious liberty, equality, and compassion that our nation was founded upon in its discriminatory impact on Muslims by giving government officials the discretion to admit people of other faiths into the United States; and
WHEREAS, Attorneys General from 16 states signed a joint statement condemning the ban and vowing to fight it in court, stating: “religious liberty has been a bedrock principle of the country and no president can change that truth”; and
WHEREAS, The Order's indefinite ban on Syrian refugee entries also means the United States is in effect turning its back on the victims of the world's worst current humanitarian crisis. The
United Nations refugee agency
and the
International Organization for Migration called on the Trump administration to continue offering asylum to people fleeing war and persecution, saying its resettlement program was vital and that “the needs of refugees and migrants worldwide have never been greater and the U.S. resettlement program is one of the most important in the world”; and
WHEREAS, The xenophobia and Islamophobia reflected in this foreign policy decision marks a critical turning point in America's stance toward the outside world that will resonate in history; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
,
Condemn President Trump’s Executive Order banning people from Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States as unconstitutional, unlawful, and un-American.
End