On Monday, April 23, CAIR-Columbus, Muslim and interfaith leaders came together for a press conference to call on the Supreme Court to overturn the Muslim Ban. The Supreme Court of the United States will be hearing oral arguments on the travel ban on Wednesday, April 25.
Speakers included Usjid Hameed, CAIR-Columbus’ Public Affairs Coordinator, Nicol Ghazi with Muslim Family Services (MFS) of Ohio, Pastor Jason Ridley with the Allegheny West Conference of Seventh Day Adventist, Horsed Noah with the Somali Islamic Centers of Ohio (SICO), Imran Malik with Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC), and Dr. Tarunjit Butalia with the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio (IACO). Romin Iqbal, CAIR-Columbus’ Legal Director fielded questions following everyone’s remarks.
“The Muslim Ban is both unconstitutional and morally reprehensible,” Hameed said following the press conference. “The Ban violates the establishment clause of the United States Constitution because it clearly disfavors Islam and has separated numerous American-Muslim families from their loved ones. We urge the Supreme Court to strike down this discriminatory Ban.”
CAIR-Columbus, along with other CAIR chapters around the country, has seen a consistent increase in anti-Muslim bias incidents since the 2016 presidential campaign. Nationwide, there was a 17% increase in anti-Muslim incidents in 2017 over 2016. Ohio alone saw 153 anti-Muslim bias incidents. Only California, Texas, and New York, states with much larger populations, experienced more.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. The CAIR-Ohio affiliate has three chapters in Ohio – Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Its mission is to encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
You can watch the live-streamed event here.