Fresno’s Muslim community felt ‘terrorized’ by Trump’s travel ban, celebrates its repeal
The central San Joaquin Valley Muslim community on Wednesday celebrated the repeal of what became known as the Muslim ban that “terrorized” them since it was implemented by former President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden rescinded the ban affecting a majority of Muslim countries within just hours of being in office. The controversial travel ban was among the signature policies of the Trump administration.
The ban went into effect through an executive order signed by Trump in 2017 and affected people from Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, and North Korea. It was later expanded to include Myanmar, Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan.
Community leaders and local families who spoke with The Bee said the ban had a significant impact locally. Under the ban, people were targeted based on their religion, their national origin, and their ethnicity, they said.
Christine Barker, executive director of the Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries, said Fresno has refugee and immigrant families from a few of the countries listed in the ban, such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Yemen. Iraq was initially on the list but later was removed.
“It has been a terror and a great injustice against our community,” Reza Nekumanesh, executive director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, told The Bee. “We have felt targeted, persecuted. We felt terrorized.”
People affected by the ban were blocked from obtaining visas to enter the country. Citizens of those countries were considered a security threat by the Trump administration.
The ban sparked a series of legal battles by advocates, such as the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, which on Wednesday said the ban “translated (Trump’s) hate-filled campaign promises into public policy.”
“We’ve been afraid for families who haven’t been able to travel to go to funerals, to bring their spouse if they have been married to non-citizens,” Nekumanesh said. Lifting the ban will “mean so much for so many families that have been separated, that have been unable to reunite, that have been unable to visit ailing loved ones, that have been unable to just travel to see their family.”
A 22-year-old woman, who is originally from Yemen, spoke to The Bee on condition of anonymity. She lives in Fresno County and is among those who have been hurt by the recently lifted ban.
She hasn’t seen her husband, who is in Yemen, since October 2019. The couple has a young daughter she has been raising on her own.
While her husband can’t come to the U.S., she can’t visit him in Yemen because of the civil unrest there.
“It’s been a roller coaster, emotionally,” she told The Bee through an interpreter. “It’s very difficult.”
The woman said she was very excited about the ban’s repeal. She said people might not realize the severe toll it takes on families being separated, especially when they have children.
She said she’s hopeful she can reunite with her husband soon.
Sukaina Hussain, deputy executive director at Council on American-Islamic Relations Sacramento Valley/Central California, said while advocacy groups celebrated the repeal of the ban, they “still recognize that this policy should never have existed in the first place.”
“We will continue to stand with Muslim and African immigrants until they are reunited with their families,” she told The Bee in a statement.
Hussain said her organization would also continue to support Dreamers and undocumented immigrants until there’s a day “they no longer have to live in fear of detention or deportation.”
“We are hopeful for the change promised by the new administration and are committed to working for justice for all immigrant families as we move forward,” she said.
Advocates, she said, also urge the Biden administration to repeal all other bans that were issued by the Trump administration to send a message that the orders represent “a clear abuse of executive authority.”
“This includes the denial of TPS, or Temporary Protected Status, to people fleeing danger in their home countries,” she said. “This work needs to continue until all families are safe.”
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