Rep. Chu To Bring Victim of Muslim Ban as Guest to State of the Union
“The President should have to face those he has cruelly victimized with his war on immigrants and campaign of bigotry and xenophobia.”
Washington, DC — Today, as President Trump considers an expansion of the Muslim Ban, Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) announced that she will be bringing Islmail Alghazali as her guest to the State of the Union. Ismail is a US citizen living in New York City who was separated from his family by the Muslim Ban, unable to even meet his newborn daughter for months. Rep. Chu issued the following statement:
"Since the day President Trump's Muslim Ban was first announced, it has caused chaos, separated families, and created avoidable pain and trauma. For people like my State of the Union Guest, Ismail Alghazali, that meant missing the birth of his daughter and being apart from his family at great financial and emotional expense. And it was all on purpose, since the US has for years demonstrated an ability to safely vet visa applicants. Even the Supreme Court, when upholding the President's authority to issue such a ban, said that in order to demonstrate a ‘legitimate national security interest,' the Administration had to provide visa waivers. Yet, despite that requirement, only about 10% of waivers have been issued. That means the Trump Administration believes 90% of visa applicants – the majority of whom happen to be Muslim - are national security threats. That includes people like Ismail's wife, Hend, who aspires to be a nurse, but whose visa request was rejected after just a 5 minute interview.
"Clearly, the purpose behind this ban was never about security, but about spreading fear and sowing distrust of Muslims. And despite that horrendous legacy, President Trump is actually considering an expansion of this hateful ban to include more countries. That is why I am bringing Ismail as my guest to the State of the Union. The President should have to face those he has cruelly victimized with his war on immigrants and campaign of bigotry and xenophobia. He needs to understand that this is not just some political game for him to play, but that when he advances Stephen Miller's white nationalist agenda, there are real humans on the other side being needlessly hurt, and families needlessly separated. This is not who we are as a country, and it is not what we need.
"Of course, the best way to stop the President's Muslim Ban is by passing my bill, H.R. 2214, the No Ban Act, which, earlier this week, Speaker Pelosi announced would be brought to the floor for a vote."