Minneapolis, MN – A small crowd gathered in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on August 10 for a press conference celebrating the passage of the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill would repeal President Trump’s racist travel ban that has prevented immigration from a list of Muslim-majority and African countries. It would also strengthen prohibitions against discrimination on visa applications, permanently barring the executive branch from banning people from entering the United States on the basis of religious affiliation. Approved by the House in late July, the NO BAN Act now requires Senate passage to be enacted into law.

The Twin Cities has been a hotbed of protest against the Muslim ban since Trump’s election in 2016. At the press conference, Kent Mori of the Anti-War Committee explained: “Part of this celebration should be to remember the earlier steps that have brought us these steps toward victory. Protests like on January 31, 2017, when 15,000 folks protested Trump’s initial Muslim ban in downtown Minneapolis, and the hundreds of thousands that protested at airports across the country around the same time. Protests like on October 10, 2019, when 20,000 weathered a rainstorm to surround Trump’s racist rally at the Target Center.”

The event was put on by the Council of American Islamic Relations-Minnesota (CAIR-MN) and among several speakers, featured an appearance by U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.

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