On Monday and Tuesday, November 13 -14, CAIR-Columbus Public Affairs Coordinator Usjid Hameed and Interim Youth Director for NICC Amina Barhumi spoke about Islam at Columbus State Community College to students preparing to become American Sign Language interpreters.
During the presentation, Hameed discussed the diversity of beliefs in Islam, dispelled myths about Muslims, examined the many similarities between Islam and other Abrahamic faiths, and fielded questions from the class.
On Sunday, October 1, CAIR-Columbus Public Affairs Coordinator, Usjid Hameed, and Operations Coordinator, Monuza Ashraf, spoke at Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Grandview to a study group focused on learning more about Muslims and the Islamic faith.
During the event, Hameed and Ashraf discussed the overlaps between Christianity and Islam, the diversity among Muslims both within Central Ohio and around the globe, as well as how individuals can safely intervene when witness to someone verbally attacking another person who appears to be Muslim.
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/20/17) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is calling on all Americans to urge their congressional representatives to co-sponsor and support the Disarm Hate Act (H.R. 2841/S.1324). The act is sponsored by Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) and Senator Robert Casey (D-PA).
Introduced in June — one week before the Congressional baseball practice shooting and two months before the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. — the act would ban gun sales to people who have been convicted of a hate crime or a misdemeanor committed out of hatred of a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability from attaining a firearm.
We have contacted the FBI and we are working with Columbus Police to catch the assailant. We are hopeful that this person will soon be brought to justice.
The victim has been discharged from the hospital and is now recovering from her injuries at home.
Here is how you can help: Please circulate this crime stoppers video from NBC4i.com asking for tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybLmsqQSMXE&feature=youtu.be
Please keep the victim in your prayers.
CAIR-Columbus announced today the filing of a federal lawsuit in 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 an Iraqi green card holder, whose citizenship application has been pending for nearly two and a half years without adjudication. The Plaintiff in this case has no criminal history and has been a permanent resident of the United States for close to nine years.
The Plaintiff has been repeatedly told by USCIS that they are unable to determine when the adjudication of his case will be completed. The Plaintiff has made numerous other inquiries with the USCIS on the status of his application but received the same proforma response from the USCIS. He also asked for assistance from his Congressman Steve Stivers’ office to contact USCIS on his behalf. Even though representatives from Congressman Stivers’ office contacted USCIS on two different occasions, they received the same proforma response from USCIS – that Plaintiff’s application is still currently pending.
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Columbus Chapter, is calling on the FBI and Columbus Police to investigate what CAIR says was an unprovoked shooting on a Muslim woman.
The attack on that 58-year-old woman happened Monday night between the intersection of Georgesville Road and Lone Eagle Street.
According to the police report, the woman was on her way home from work, when a blue truck pulled up next to her.
Police say the driver of the truck fired 13 shots into the woman’s car, striking her four times in the back, twice in the left hand and once in the elbow. She’s recovering at a local hospital.
CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal participated in a town-hall debate organized by local news station ABC6 on March 20, 2017. The debate was on the new refugee and travel ban on six Muslim majority countries by President Trump. Iqbal opposed the ban and debated the issue with Mr. Jason Beardsley and Mr. Michael Gonidakis who were in support of the ban. The debate was lively with a lot of back and forth between the three participants. Iqbal argued that the ban did not advance US security interests, that it was, in fact, detrimental to American interests and that the ban would not be able to survive Court challenges on its constitutionality.
You can watch the debate at: http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/town-hall-immigration-and-the-state-of-the-union
CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal gave a presentation at the North Congregational United Church of Christ on March 26, 2017. The presentation was well attended by members of the Church and lasted for around ninety minutes. In the first half of the presentation, Iqbal spoke about the legal issues relating to the travel and refugee ban by the President, the new directive by the DHS on treatment of undocumented migrants, and the various civil rights challenges faced by the Muslim community in Ohio. The first half was followed by a question and answer session where Iqbal took questions from an attentive audience on the travel ban, on avenues for providing support to the Ohio Muslim community, and on other issues covered in his presentation.
On Monday, March 27, CAIR-Columbus and attorney Inna Simakovsky were recognized by Columbus City Council for their outstanding legal work representing a group of immigrants who were faced with losing their commercial drivers licenses. Jennifer Nimer and Simakovsky held a legal clinic open to the public on New Year’s Day to provide free appeals for anyone who walked through the door. Overall they filed over 45 appeals, which ultimately led the Ohio BMV to reverse its policy and not revoke the CDL licenses.
Click here to view video of of the resolution being presented at the City Council meeting and to hear the remarks made by City Council.
BEFORE YOU GET TO THE AIRPORT:
A bill now in the Ohio House would repeal the right of discrimination and retaliation victims to file civil suit against supervisors who unlawfully harass, discriminate or retaliate against them. This will have an impact on victims of many types of discrimination, including Muslims who suffer from discrimination based on religion or national origin.
Tell your House Representative to VOTE NO on House Bill 2. It would repeal decades of Ohio law holding companies and their managers responsible for the costs of their unlawful discrimination and retaliation.
CAIR-Columbus attorneys Jennifer Nimer and Romin Iqbal participated in an event titled “Courthouse to the Community” which was organized by Columbus City Councilmember Michael Stinziano. The event was aimed at connecting immigrants with local legal service organizations. CAIR-Columbus along with 20 plus other legal providers met with members of the community to educate them about their legal services
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/15/2017) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, tonight welcomed an order issued by a federal judge in Hawaii blocking President Trump’s new “Muslim Ban 2.0” executive order.
That presidential executive order, issued March 6, preserved major components of the original Muslim ban, including halting new visas and green cards for people from six majority-Muslim countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – stopping all refugees from entering the United States for 120 days and limiting total refugee admissions. The ban was set to go into effect just after midnight tonight.
PHASE IN PERIOD
– The Travel Ban 2.0 will not go into effect until March 16, 2017 and the older order, signed on January 27, 2017 has been replaced.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
– Ban will not apply to lawful permanent residents and current visa holders. However, expect high scrutiny at the border when entering.
(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 3/10/17) – The Columbus Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today the filing of two federal lawsuits for eleven Muslim plaintiffs with extreme immigration application delays.
The first lawsuit, filed against US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and various officials from DHS and USCIS, was filed on behalf of a Libyan national who is a U.S. green card holder with a citizenship application pending since 2014.