New Travel Ban is Dangerous, Wrong, and Will Not Make American Jews Safer

On Wednesday, President Trump signed a new travel ban blocking travel to the United States for people from 12 countries, almost entirely from the Middle East and Africa. Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, shared the following response:

“The travel ban was wrong and dangerous back when it was an unconstitutional Muslim ban in the first Trump administration, and it is even more so now. In addition to the continued attack on the rule of law, this order continues to spread the baseless and nativist lie that immigrants – or even visitors from another country – are inherently dangerous. Not only does this ban fail to make us safer, it actually increases risks for all communities by normalizing the xenophobia and prejudices informing our governmental policies.

“President Trump has said that this ban was signed now in part as a response to the horrific and tragic attack on the Jewish community in Boulder, Colorado. This is wrong and a dangerous co-opting of our pain. As we have said repeatedly, the Jewish community’s legitimate fears and concerns should not be exploited to undermine core democratic norms, or otherwise advance discriminatory and unconstitutional policies. Doing so only makes Jews – and all communities – less safe.”