Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Interfaith Rally Protests Trump's Move to Block Muslim Immigrants

By Irene Plagianos | January 27, 2017 5:26pm
 Dozens gathered to pray and protest President Trump at Foley Square.
Dozens gathered to pray and protest President Trump at Foley Square.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/ Irene Plagianos

LOWER MANHATTAN — A traditional Muslim prayer became a rallying cry Friday, as dozens gathered to protest an impending executive order that would restrict visas for refugees and other immigrants from a large swath of majority-Muslim countries.

A prayer known as the Jummah — a Muslim Friday afternoon congregational prayer — was given in Foley Square, a public space outside of Manhattan federal and civil courts, as scores of people encircled those in prayer, to symbolize support for the Muslim community. 

The gathering, organized by the New York Immigration Coalition, Majlis Al Shura: The Islamic Leadership Council of Greater NY, and the Inter-Faith Clergy of New York City, was an interfaith rally, meant to decry the executive order President Donald Trump went on to sign Friday evening.

Speaking to the crowd, NYPD chaplain Khalid Latif and director and chaplain for the Islamic Center at NYU told those gathered to stay strong, united and ready to act in the face of hatred.

"If they build walls, we must build bridges," Latif said. "When hatred ensues, meet it with love."

Details of the executive order signed Friday evening were not immediately released, but, according to a draft of the order leaked to the press Tuesday, and an interview Trump gave to ABC News, the order would curtail immigration from select "high-risk" countries, including war-torn Syria and Iraq — a plan that has been denounced by human rights organizations.

Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS, the global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees, told those gathered, "An American that does not welcome refugees is not America," adding, that these refugees "are not bringing terror, they are fleeing terror.

He also condemned Trump for being scheduled to sign the order on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, calling it an affront to the memory of those who died.

Speakers also decried the executive order Trump signed earlier this week, which, among other things, calls for building a border wall, prioritizes deporting illegal immigrants and promises to cut funding to so-called sanctuary cities, like New York.

Protesters gathered chanted "No hate, no fear, immigrants and Muslims are welcome here." (DNAinfo/Irene Plagianos)

Hasbeed Chowdry, 29, who took part in the public prayer session Friday said he had never been politically active, but Trump's plans are something "we just can't tolerate," he said.

"My parents immigrated to Queens from Pakistan in the '70s, and I've lived a privileged life because of them," said Chowdry. "We need to stand up for all the families that are going through this struggle now, it's necessary."