Simon Wiesenthal Center Reiterates: There Should Be No Blanket US Ban on Any Religious, National, or Ethnic Group

January 29, 2017

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO reiterates that there should be no blanket ban on entry to the United States based on nationality, religion, or ethnicity. Further, reacting to the White House Executive Order placing a 120-day moratorium on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) from 7 predominantly Moslem countries, North Korea, and other nations, the SWC urged that Yezidis and endangered Christians who are targeted disproportionately for discrimination, violence, and even death, be excluded from the temporary ban, along with women, children, and the elderly seeking to be reunified with families already living in the United States.

“Recognizing the right of the new administration to evaluate US policies to better secure our borders and Homeland Security efforts from threats anywhere in the world, the SWC, nonetheless urges that individuals who could be in immediate danger by a prolonged ban not be barred. Yezidis and endangered Christians should have been at the front of line years ago of eligible refugees seeking to come to the US. They were not under the previous Administration," declared Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

"It also goes without saying that residents who have Green Cards should be allowed to return to their homes in the US and freely travel and work here and abroad.

"The Simon Wiesenthal Center reiterates its hope that any new permanent rules will keep open the doors of America to legitimate refugees, whatever their nationally, religion, or ethnicity," the rabbis concluded.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).