What We Are Telling the Biden Transition Team

December 24, 2020

As-Salaamu Alaykum Dear Community Members and Friends,

As we wind down a challenging four years, I am looking ahead with guarded optimism.

It has been a tumultuous time, with new attacks developing frequently, including just this week when numerous criminals, including those who murdered nine-year-old Ali Khanani, were pardoned. Still, change is coming, insha’Allah.

Last week, I joined my colleagues from the No Muslim Ban Ever Coalition and various other organizations to meet with the Biden transition team to talk about the Muslim, African, refugee, and asylum bans.

As you know, President-elect Biden has promised to repeal the bans on Day One in office. We are grateful for this promise but know we will need to work to ensure he fulfills it. In addition to honoring this commitment, we are urging the administration to take additional steps to rectify the harm the bans have caused to impacted communities.

In a letter signed by 170 organizations and in the meeting, we specifically asked the incoming administration to do the following:

  • End the Muslim, African, refugee, asylum, and health care bans, in their entirety on Day One.
  • Provide meaningful relief to those impacted by the bans, including outreach about the rescission of the bans, expediting cases in the administrative process, creating guidance for how to treat previously denied cases, and waiving additional fees for those that applied.
  • Center those who are impacted when the bans are repealed, so we are not just changing policy, but are changing hearts and minds by including these individuals and families in the administration’s narrative about the way forward.
  • Advocate for the No Ban Act to ensure any future president will not be able to issue and keep racist and xenophobic policies in place, like the Muslim, African, refugee, and asylum bans.
  • Reestablish trust with impacted communities by sustaining ongoing dialogue with community organizations about the repeal and other issues, including Islamophobia and national security, which impact our communities.

The bans however are just one of many ways in which American Muslim communities have been targeted in the last several decades.

Accordingly, this week, CAIR National published a special report: The First 100 Days: Restoring the Rights of American Muslims and Advancing Justice for All. The report identifies and explains policy changes that President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris should pursue during their first 100 days in office to advance justice for all, including American Muslims.

The report proposes ways to:

  • Include American Muslims in a more diverse federal government
  • Reform our criminal justice system and counter racism in policing
  • End national security overreach, including watchlists
  • Ban bigoted and discriminatory immigration practices
  • Uphold religious freedom in schools and workplaces
  • Defend the constitutional rights of incarcerated Muslims
  • Advance a progressive and transformative foreign policy

This report will act as a guide as we encourage the Biden-Harris administration to pursue positive change, insha’Allah. We must go further than simply undoing the harms of the previous administrations, and in fact, build positive change for our community and this country.

Please consider donating to help us maintain the momentum we have built in the last several years and move forward with the cautious hope many of us are feeling right now.

We need to raise $110,000 before the year ends to sustain this work.

Remember, donations to CAIR are tax-deductible and zakat-eligible organization. Monthly donations help us the most.

Before the year ends, please make a donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, $5,000, or any amount that is meaningful to you, to help us advocate for you in the media, the courts, and even the White House.

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Jazakallahu khairyan for your support. With your help, CAIR will be here to protect our community, insha’Allah.

Sincerely,

Zahra Billoo, Esq.

Executive Director