Moments ago, President Donald Trump signed a revised executive order halting the US refugee program and suspending visas for those traveling from six-Muslim majority countries: Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.  

In reaction to Trump’s executive order, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and executive director of MomsRising, a national online and on-the-ground organization of more than 1 million mothers and their families, issued the following statement:

"We are not fooled by President Trump’s so-called changes to the Muslim travel ban.  This new executive order once again bans refugees from entering the United States and creates a de-facto religious test for immigrants, impacting both new immigrants and people who have been living in the country for years.   The Trump Administration may have changed some of the language - but their goal remains the same.   These heartless, Islamophobic policies aren’t based on valid security concerns because extensive vetting from these regions is already in place - but rather are rooted in prejudice that is antithetical to our nation’s values.  

“We reject these divisive and racist policies. We teach our children to be inclusive, not to bully, and to treat other people as they would like to be treated.  Our children learn in school that the rights of all people in our country, no matter their background, to live, love and worship as they will - are enshrined in our US Constitution.   It’s time for our leaders to stand up for our U.S. Constitution and the true values of our nation.

“Taking away the basic rights of any group and building barriers between people, based on religion, race, or national origin, not only undermines the moral and economic strength of our nation, it creates an opening to undermine the rights of all other groups. To be clear, this policy is about human rights abuses in the name of immigration policy.  

“We will be watching, too, to ensure that the ‘extreme vetting’ the Trump administration proposes after the 90-day waiting period is humane, nondiscriminatory and does not use religion, race or country of origin to deny innocent people the refuge they desperately need. That isn’t the America we want for our children. And we won’t stand for it."