President Joe Biden today was expected to order the repeal of the Muslim ban and its African counterpart and call for a review of discriminatory extreme vetting policies designed to make it harder to come to the United States. Faiza Patel, co-director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Security Program , had the following comment:
“In revoking the Muslim ban on his first day in office, President Biden has ended a shameful chapter in our history. Born of blatant bigotry, the ban excluded half a billion people from ever having even a chance to come to the United States, including family members of Americans. We are encouraged that the new administration is planning to conduct a review of “extreme vetting,” and look forward to working with them to roll back these policies, which have served as a backdoor ban and severely dampened immigration and travel to the U.S.
“Donald Trump’s Muslim ban survived for four years because people who knew better lied that it was a needed public safety measure. President Biden’s repeal of the Muslim and African bans recognizes them for what they were: rank discrimination to score cheap political points.”
For more reaction, please read the Twitter thread by Harsha Panduranga, counsel in the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Program, here.
