PRESS STATEMENT: CAIR-Chicago Calls on Illinois Elected Officials to Reject Un-American Calls for Student Deportations
- For Immediate Release and Distribution -
Photo by Hafsa Haider, CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator
(CHICAGO, IL, 7/16/2024) - The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, today expressed deep concern regarding recent calls by Republican elected officials to defame, target and deport students who express opposition to the Israeli government's ongoing genocide in Gaza, and called on elected officials in Illinois to reject such calls.
"As a civil rights advocacy organization, we are startled by open calls to punish college students and others in America for practicing their First Amendment rights," said CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab. "Mischaracterizing students opposed to the Gaza genocide as radical Hamas supporters and calling on our college campuses to restrict free speech in the name of patriotism is deeply troubling. First, patriotism is not blind capitulation to official government lines, but the right and freedom to challenge government lines when necessary. Secondly, the student movements are peaceful free expressions. Thirdly, the diverse student movements have advocated for the humanity of Palestinians rather than support for Hamas or any other organization.”
Rehab further highlighted that Republican elected officials calling for the deportation of college students based on their speech contradicts concerns those officials often express about the importance of upholding the Constitution and the danger of weaponizing government against political opponents.
"Vilifying students and threatening to deport them just because you disagree with their opinions amounts to weaponizing government to chill individual free speech – a dangerous Soviet-esque development that should concern all Americans,” Rehab said.
CAIR-Chicago does not endorse any political candidate or platform but engages in issue-based advocacy pertinent to its stated mission of defending US constitutional civil rights.
CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote understanding.
CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR Chicago, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com; Maggie Slavin, Operations Manager of CAIR-Chicago, 815-590-3991, mslavin@cair.com; Hafsa Haider, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509, hhaider@cair.com