President Biden Rescinds Muslim Travel Ban on Day One

Colleen Ross
January 25, 2021

Last week, as one of 17-Day One executive actions, President Biden rescinded Donald Trump’s travel ban on Muslim-majority and African countries. During the Trump presidency, this travel ban faced numerous legal challenges in its various forms. The Supreme Court ultimately approved this callous and discriminatory policy, which resulted in more than 41,000 people denied visas. Now, this harmful expression of Islamophobia and anti-blackness has been terminated.

The travel ban kept family members apart from one another, ended job opportunities, and upended students’ academic careers. While the battle over the travel ban in courts was about legality and intent, the travel ban raised moral questions about the United States identity as a nation that welcomes immigrants and values family unity.

Muslim advocates and people across the country opposed to this discriminatory policy pushed back every step of the way. President Biden’s quick action to rescind the ban is a good first step, but much more will have to be done to reunite families and restore the U.S.’s relationship with foreign countries. In Congress, passing the No Ban Act, which NETWORK supports, would prevent future discriminatory policies being passed.

Welcoming individuals of all backgrounds is a value we must continue living up to in our nation, and a basic tenet of Catholic Social Justice. Now that the travel ban is overturned, we continue working to instill justice and respect for immigrants into all of our policies.