WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representatives Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) and Brad Schneider (IL-10), led over 30 of their colleagues in a letter to President Trump expressing concern and opposition to the proposed reinstatement of his discriminatory travel ban. The letter comes amid reports that his administration is considering a ban on as many as 43 countries.
The lawmakers highlighted economic concerns, risks to national security, and impacts to international cooperation as potential consequences of the new proposed travel ban.
Read Rep. Ansari’s op-ed on the proposed ban HERE.
“As the daughter of first-generation Iranian immigrants, I saw firsthand how Trump’s cruel and xenophobic 2017 travel ban hurt families like mine,” said Rep. Ansari. “Just a few years ago, my grandmother - an American citizen - died without ever getting the chance to see her sister again. The newly proposed Trump travel ban is disgraceful and discriminatory. It does nothing to make us safer but instead hurts our economy and our national security while emboldening extremists.”
“The proposed extreme travel bans represent a troubling step backwards, threatening America's economic vitality, security, and global standing,” said Rep. Schneider. “Our nation's strength lies in open engagement with the world and credible, compassionate leadership. We diminish our country and our children’s future by surrendering to isolation and irrational suspicion. Congress must urgently work together to implement balanced, bipartisan solutions that strengthen our security, grow our economy and uphold our values.”
The letter is also signed by Representatives Becca Balint (VT-00), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Andre Carson (IN-07), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Jason Crow (CO-06), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Jim McGovern (MA-03), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Dave Min (CA-47), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Emily Randall (WA-06), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Derek Tran (CA-45), Nydia Velazquez (NY-07), and Nikema Williams (GA-05), and endorsed by Refugees International, International Refugee Assistance Project, Refugee Congress, Foreign Policy for America, and Church World Service.
The full text of the letter can be read here and below.
Dear President Trump:
We write to express our deep concern and firm opposition to reports of your administration considering travel bans on as many as 43 nations. We urge you to reconsider this extreme approach as it poses significant economic, moral, and security challenges that outweigh its intended benefits. Instead, your administration must work with Congress to pursue commonsense and bipartisan reforms while also addressing legitimate national security concerns and a secure border; working on pathways to citizenship for hardworking, longtime residents; streamlining the visa process for families and employers; and ensuring compassionate treatment of immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.
From an economic perspective, expansive travel bans risk undermining America’s global competitiveness. International travel, trade, and tourism are drivers of our economy, which is already facing significant pressure from actions taken by your administration. International visitors support millions of American jobs and billions of dollars in revenue for our country. Restricting travel from over 40 nations — some of which are partners in trade and innovation — could disrupt supply chains, deter foreign investment, discourage U.S. employers from hiring badly-needed foreign workers, and strain diplomatic relationships that facilitate our economic growth. Our nation’s prosperity depends on secure and mutually beneficial engagement with the world, not isolation, fear, and discrimination towards outsiders.
Additionally, broad travel bans undermine our collective safety and national security, rather than enhance it. History has shown that blanket restrictions alienate allies and fuel adversarial narratives, potentially driving vulnerable populations toward extremism. Our retreat on the global stage — from Ukraine to USAID — is already prompting a turn away from the U.S. and our values and instead towards our adversaries, like Russia and China. A travel ban policy perceived as indiscriminate also risks eroding the trust of nations whose intelligence-sharing and counterterrorism efforts are essential to our defense.
There is no national security imperative to wholesale ban travelers from large swaths of the globe. Nationality is an insufficient ground for determining threats to our security. During your first administration, thousands of Americans and U.S. residents were separated from their loved ones abroad, including thousands of grandparents, children, husbands, and wives. It also exacerbated problems at home, like healthcare and other labor shortages. This reckless action builds on a long list of steps you have taken to undermine, rather than strengthen, our national security and global image.
The United States has long stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity, welcoming those who seek refuge, education, or simply the chance to contribute to our society and make a better life for themselves and their families. Immigrants and visitors from other countries make us better and stronger. Indeed, this myopic and restrictive policy would inflict unnecessary hardship on families, students, and professionals who pose no threat, while severely tarnishing America’s reputation as a compassionate leader on the global stage and a premiere destination for talent and investment.
We await your response and call for an urgent shift in policy towards solutions that serve the best interests of the American people.
Follow @RepYassAnsari on all social media platforms and visit Ansari.House.gov to learn more.
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