MCCRC joins ACLU-MD, CAIR, 36 other organizations in letter to Governor Hogan on refugees

Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition was proud to join 38 other Maryland civil rights and other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland and the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Maryland (CAIR), in a letter urging Governor Larry Hogan to reconsider his request that the federal government not send Syrian refugees to Maryland.  The full text and list of signatories is at the end of this post.

From the ACLU of Maryland press release: “It is vital that Governor Larry Hogan understand that there is strong and growing support for welcoming Syrian refugees to Maryland,” said Sirine Shebaya, staff attorney directing ACLU of Maryland’s immigrant’s rights advocacy. “Singling out refugees makes no sense, since they are the most extensively vetted group of immigrants ever to enter the United States. We call on Governor Hogan to reject discriminatory, fear-mongering calls to ban Syrian refugees from our country and instead welcome them to our state.” 

Similarly, CAIR’s Zainab Chaudry writes,

We have a moral obligation to recall our shared humanity as the refugee settlement debate rages on. Our country is a country of immigrants who enrich and strengthen it. As the world witnesses a humanitarian crisis of unparalleled proportions in recent years, we cannot allow the politics of xenophobia and bigotry to persuade us to turn our backs on these refugees who need our help the most.

MCCRC’s Fran Pollner said,

The voices of thousands of individuals who live and work in Maryland have reached our governor in a powerful message repudiating his statehouse declaration that Syrian refugees should be denied access to our state. We have asked Governor Hogan to reconsider his disgraceful stand, but we don’t need that to happen to do in our local communities what the organizations we are affiliated with have always sought to do – remedy injustice and aid those in distress. Moreover, we the people are not in violation of the U.S. Constitution in helping to bring Syrian refugees into our communities, unlike the governor, who would should he attempt to ban them from the state.”

Show your support by joining the ACLU of Maryland’s petition to the Governor.