QUEENS — A Queens congresswoman is planning to introduce a bill Monday that would block federal funds from being used to enforce President Donald Trump’s executive order banning refugees and other travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the United States, which she called "unconstitutional and un-American."
Rep. Grace Meng, whose 6th Congressional District includes Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Bayside, Middle Village and Flushing, said that her "No Funds for Unconstitutional Executive Orders Act" would prohibit any funds made available by Congress from being used to implement the ban.
We must fight @realDonaldTrump’s #MuslimBan. That’s why I’ll be introducing legislation to stop it. https://t.co/XVGd7f0Bno
— Grace Meng (@RepGraceMeng) January 29, 2017
“The decision by a federal judge to temporarily block this unconstitutional and un-American executive order was a great victory,” Meng said in a statement, referring to the decision by Brooklyn Federal Judge Ann Donnelly on Saturday to block part of Trump’s ban.
“But we must make sure that it is overturned for good, and this legislation would make that happen," Meng added.
The congresswoman, who over the weekend circulated a letter to members of the House calling on them to support her legislation, had more than two dozens co-sponsors as of Monday morning, including Reps. Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries, Gregory Meeks, Thomas Suozzi and Nydia Velázquez, her office said.
"Not only is President Trump's ban bad policy, it is unconstitutional," Meng wrote in the letter. "The first 10 words of the Bill of Rights state: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,' yet the President has repeatedly stated that this order will be used to implement an official government preference for the admission of Christian refugees into America."
The refugee ban led to the detention of several people flying into JFK over the weekend and triggered massive demonstrations in New York city and nationwide that saw thousands of protesters rallying against the executive order.
