Minneapolis, MN – Protesters chanted and spoke out against President Trump’s third attempt at a Muslim ban, Oct. 10, at the Minneapolis Federal Building, in downtown Minneapolis.

A Washington Post review of State Department data found that more than 65,000 visas were issued in fiscal year 2016 that would now likely fall under the ban.

On Sept. 24, President Trump issued an updated travel ban. The nations facing travel restrictions to the U.S. now include Chad, Iran, Libya, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Iraq was dropped from the Muslim ban earlier, Sudan was dropped, but Chad (another Muslim-majority country) along with north Korea and Venezuela were added on Sept. 24. The ban goes into effect on Oct. 15.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a member of the Anti-War Committee, which organized the protest, explains, “Trump’s expansion of his racist travel ban is a last ditch effort to make his policy appear less discriminatory towards Muslims. We oppose the travel ban because it targets people fleeing the effects of U.S. foreign policy. As we said in January when the Muslim ban was first enacted, it is criminal for the U.S. to bomb and attack other countries and then turn away refugees when the U.S. has destroyed their homelands. Trump made the announcement the same day as the U.S. conducted airstrikes in Libya. It is outrageous for Trump to enact this while at the same time expanding wars in the Middle East and threatening north Korea and Venezuela.”

Christine Hauschildt joined the Anti-War Committee after participating in their protest of 15,000 people against the Muslim ban on Jan. 31, 2017 and was one of the main speakers at today’s protest. Hauschildt told the crowd, “The Trump administration is labeling entire countries as ‘terrorist havens’ when in fact the U.S. has caused years of terror in them. U.S. warfare has created an international refugee crisis and this ban is an attempt to blame the very victims of these wars for their own trauma. It is immoral and outrageous to deny refugees an avenue to flee to the U.S. when our country was responsible for creating the wars they are running from.”

The protest is a part of a week of actions. On Thursday, Oct. 12, the Anti-War Committee and the Council on American Islamic Relations are organizing mini-protests in downtown Minneapolis to increase awareness surrounding the Muslim ban.

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