Philly's Muslim Community Vows To Challenge Trump's Travel Ban
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's Islamic community is reacting strongly to President Donald Trump's recent executive order banning travel from six predominantly Muslim countries.
The new ban goes into effect March 16 and stops new visas from folks from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Sudan for 90 days and halts the U.S. refugee program for four months.
"The community feels put upon and profiled and discriminated against," said Jacob Bender, who runs the Philadelphia Counsel on American Islamic Relations.
Bender says the new ban is a partial win for those who protested the first executive order, but he believes more resistance is needed.
"We will do everything we can to challenge this, whether by legal means or by public protests," he said.
Mikal Shabazz runs the Northeast Section of the Convener of Imams, a group of three-dozen African-American mosques. They issued a statement condemning the ban.
"We needed to have a proactive active approach and express our voice," Shabazz said, "because we've been the whole American experience and all kinds of struggles."
The new executive order provides specifics on who is impacted, avoiding many of the legal issues inherent in the first ban.
