Biden hits Trump over travel ban threats on anniversary of ‘Muslim ban’ proposal

President Biden on Thursday took aim at former President Trump’s travel ban policies, marking the eighth anniversary of the so-called “Muslim ban” pushed by Trump in the 2016 election.

Trump released the proposal in December 2015, when he was vying for the Republican presidential nomination, calling “for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

“On this day eight years ago, candidate for President Donald Trump proposed his Muslim travel ban. Like millions of Americans, I was appalled. The proposal was a cynical ploy. It was about sowing fear and distrust of Muslim Americans and all Muslims — not about protecting our national security,” Biden said in a press release from his reelection campaign Thursday.

Biden said that the ban “betrayed America’s long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all” and that it violated the constitutional principle that the U.S. is built on a religious freedom foundation.

“Let me be clear: Muslim Americans are Americans. Period. Fanning the flames of intolerance can lead to attacks on Muslims, Arabs, Sikhs, and others. It’s wrong,” Biden said. “We celebrate the diversity that is our strength. We treat each other with dignity and respect. We reject Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and hate in all its forms. And in moments like these – when there is a heightened sense of fear and suspicion – we work even harder to hold on to the values that make us who we are. We never abandon them.”

During his first week in office in 2017, Trump signed an executive order that limited visas from several predominantly Muslim countries. Biden rescinded the ban on his first day in office after pledging to do so during the 2020 campaign.

Trump, who is leading the GOP field for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, vowed in September to reimpose and expand the travel ban if he wins a second term.

“When President Trump followed through on his proposal and signed an executive order banning citizens from primarily Muslim countries, it stained our national conscience. It was cruel. The order separated loved ones and inflicted needless pain,” Biden said Thursday.

“By jeopardizing our alliances and partnerships around the world, President Trump undermined America’s national security. Shamefully, he’s now calling for another travel ban,” he added.

Trump has consistently defended his travel ban policies and has signaled a push to curb immigration if he’s elected again next year.

The former president has vowed to “carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American History” and said he would invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to expel suspected drug cartel members.

During the Trump administration, the travel ban was revised numerous times to eventually include five countries with majority-Muslim populations — Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia — as well as North Korea and Venezuela before the Supreme Court upheld it in 2018.