Analysis
Tracking Trump's executive orders: Sanctuary jurisdictions
Executive Order 14159: Protecting the American People Against Invasion
Date Signed: January 20, 2025
Key Provisions:
- Executive Order 14159 revokes many Executive Orders from the Biden-Era that aimed to manage migration and aid asylum seekers
- Executive Order 14159 seeks to prioritize and expedite the detention and/or deportation of “inadmissible and removable aliens,” and includes provisions for constructing additional detention facilities
- They also mandated that sanctuary jurisdictions are subject to losing access to federal funds in order to eliminate such sanctuary jurisdictions
Interfaith Alliance Counterpoints:
- Interfaith Alliance has long believed in treating all people, regardless of their background, with the inherent dignity and respect that we all deserve. We reject the proliferation of hateful rhetoric that refers to any human being as an “alien” and suggests that those seeking freedom and asylum in our country are part of an “invasion.”
- Executive Order 14159’s revocation of previous protections, including family reunification efforts, is seen by Interfaith Alliance as a significant step backward in protecting our human rights.
- Interfaith Alliance is worried about the penalization of sanctuary jurisdictions because disregarding healthy boundaries between state and federal authorities puts America in a precarious position, as it risks undermining local autonomy.
- Pressuring sanctuary jurisdictions to enforce these discriminatory immigration policies is not only harmful to immigrant communities but also undermines the ability of states to address the unique needs of their populations.
Transcript
The Trump Administration’s Latest Attacks on Muslim Community Leaders
After months in detention, we finally received the good news that Ohio chaplain Ayman Soliman was released from jail as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dropped his deportation case. Soliman was an interfaith chaplain at a children’s hospital and a longtime leader of the Ohio Muslim community with deep ties to interfaith work across the state. As ProPublica reported, Soliman’s asylum status was restored and his application for a green card was revived. This news came through the dedicated hard work and advocacy of many organizations, particularly CAIR-Ohio and his colleagues at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, who were fired for speaking out on his behalf.
Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation case has alarming implications
Earlier this year, during the holy month of Ramadan, ICE agents followed Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil home after he broke his fast and forcibly detained him without a warrant. Khalil, a Palestinian activist, was then disappeared into an unmarked vehicle and taken to an unknown location as his pregnant wife watched and pleaded for information. It was later revealed that Khalil had been moved to a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, where he faced deportation. He was held for over three months in poor conditions, missing his graduation and the birth of his first child.
True Religious Freedom Means Protecting Our Faith Leaders, Not Detaining Them
In early July, Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his asylum status was terminated in June. In response, local faith leaders organized a prayer vigil, rally, and peaceful march; during the march at least 15 protesters were detained by local police and charged with felony rioting.