The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is calling on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 500 Somalia nationals living in the United States.
TPS for Somalia nationals living in the United States expires on September 17, and DHS is expected to make its decision on extending and redesignating the status by July 19.
On Wednesday, June 27, CAIR-Columbus Legal Director, Romin Iqbal, appeared on WOSU’s “All Sides with Ann Fisher” to discuss issues relating to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Muslim ban.
On Wednesday, June 27, CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal participated in a community discussion along with the ACLU of Ohio to discuss the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Muslim travel ban. Romin Iqbal and Gary Daniels of the ACLU of Ohio were the two main speakers at this event. The event was open to all members of public and was well attended.
During this holy month, we ask Allah to accept our good deeds and forgive us for our shortcomings. Ramadan is a time we reflect on our actions and recommit to our goals and mission. Here at CAIR-Columbus, thanks to your support in these challenging times, we are committed more than ever to promote justice and empower American Muslims.
During this month of generosity and charity we hope that you will donate to sustain and grow CAIR-Columbus’ work. Your gift of $10,000, $5000, $1000, $500, $250, $100 or any amount will be used to safeguard the liberties of Muslims and all Americans. Will you become a CAIR-Columbus Champion of Justice and help us reach our goal of turning $75,000 into $150,000 by the end of Ramadan?
Please review our 2017 Annual Report, which details what your support helped us accomplish throughout 2017. Our success is the result you help make possible. Now more than ever we need you to invest and engage in CAIR’s important mission. Challenging Islamophobia and the efforts to marginalize the Muslim community is a long-term battle that we cannot afford to lose focus from. Please send your donation today to help us protect and empower Muslims and all Americans in this quest for justice.
May Allah bless you and your family with a beneficial and bountiful Ramadan.
CAIR reported today that some 400 delegates from 28 states met on Monday and Tuesday with more than 250 elected officials and congressional staffers during the record-breaking fourth annual “National Muslim Advocacy Day” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said Muslim delegates participating in this year’s advocacy day event met with a third of the House of Representatives and almost half of the Senate. The delegation organized by CAIR-Ohio met with 14 Ohio congressional offices over the two day period.
[NOTE: Last year, delegates met with some 230 congressional offices.]
“It was amazing to see the spirit and enthusiasm of all those who traveled from across our nation to meet with their elected officials to make the voice of the American Muslim community heard on Capitol Hill,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
CAIR-Columbus announced today the filing of two federal lawsuits in the Southern District of Ohio against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Attorney General of the United States, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on behalf of two Muslim legal permanent residents whose citizenship applications have been pending for an unreasonable amount of time without adjudication – sixteen and eighteen months respectively.
Neither of the Plaintiffs have any criminal history and one of the Plaintiffs is a doctor at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today urged the nation’s Muslim community to prepare for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan by better understanding their legal rights in the workplace and school.
WATCH: “Know Your Rights: Religious Accommodations at Work and in School”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ6zD2vdu2M
Community members are also encouraged to request free copies of CAIR-Columbus’ Employer’s Guide to Ramadan and the CAIR-Columbus Educator’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices. These publications outline the basics of Ramadan and offer suggestions for accommodations in the workplace and for students. To order hard copies, email publications@cair-columbus.com.
(Columbus, Ohio – 4/29/18) – Member organizations of the Interfaith March for Peace & Justice – Columbus, an interfaith, social justice coalition in Central Ohio, are urging all Americans concerned about civil rights and free speech to contact Senator Rob Portman, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and ask him to work to halt the implementation and funding of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “Visa Lifecycle Vetting” program, formerly known as the “Extreme Vetting Initiative.”
SEE: The Brennan Center for Justice’s ICE Extreme Vetting Initiative: A Resource Page
On Saturday, April 21, CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal participated in a “Reporting on Race and Hate” workshop attended by news directors and reporters from across Ohio. This workshop was put together by the Ohio Association of Broadcasters and the National Association of Broadcasters Educational Foundation.
The workshop focused on educating journalists reporting on issues of race, religion and hate groups. It also covered topics relating to stereotypes, intrinsic bias and journalistic failures. The workshop was conducted by Kevin Benz of i-Media Strategies. The discussion on issues of media coverage of religion and Americans Muslim was facilitated by Iqbal.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 4/24/2018) – On April 26, Usjid Hameed, the Public Affairs Coordinator for the Columbus Chapter of CAIR-Ohio, will attend the inauguration of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama as part of a delegation of some 30 national leaders of CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.
The facility is “the nation’s first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people, people terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence.”
On Sunday, April 22, CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal appeared on the Channel 10 show “Face the State” with Scott Light. The discussion covered a variety of topics, including the state of the Ohio governor’s race, changes in education relating to district report cards, and political campaign promises.
Other guests included Terry Casey, Political Analyst and former head of the Franklin County Republican Party, Dr. Marc Clauson, Professor of History and Law at Cedarville University and Julie Carr Smyth of the Associated Press.
You can watch the show here: https://www.10tv.com/article/face-state-scott-light-april-22-2018
CAIR-Columbus announced today the filing of a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Ohio against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Attorney General of the United States, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on behalf of a Muslim woman whose citizenship application has been pending for almost two and a half years without adjudication. The woman has no criminal history and has been a permanent resident of the United States since 2010.
CAIR is calling on all those who value America’s traditions of religious inclusion and respect for diversity to urge the Senate to oppose the confirmation of Mike Pompeo as secretary of state.
CAIR is releasing seven steps people can take to urge their senators and members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to oppose and block Pompeo’s confirmation.
“Mr. Pompeo’s expressed Islamophobic views and association with a virulent anti-Muslim hate group should disqualify him from being confirmed as secretary of state,” said CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert McCaw. “Americans must unite together in opposing Pompeo’s confirmation to prevent any harm he may do to our nation’s image and to relations abroad.”
On Thursday, March 15, CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal, gave a presentation at a Cleveland Employment Inn of Courts meeting on issues relating to providing religious accommodations for employees in the workplace. In his presentation, Mr. Iqbal focused on religious accommodation laws at the state and federal level, including a discussion of cases where Courts have ruled on the definition of what constitutes a ‘reasonable accommodation’ and ‘undue burden’ in religious accommodation cases. Iqbal also discussed specific issues of religious accommodation faced by local Ohio Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced a win in an ongoing federal lawsuit on behalf of six individuals challenging the lawfulness of President Trump’s “Muslim ban 3.0.”
SEE: ‘The Words of the President’ Doom Trump Travel Ban, Fourth Circuit Says
A panel of 13 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., sitting “en banc,” today declared Trump’s Muslim ban illegal and unconstitutional.
[NOTE: CAIR and the Brennan Center for Justice filed the lawsuit in October 2017. On appeal, this case, Zakzok v. Trump, was consolidated with two others and were jointly decided by the Fourth Circuit today.]