Press Releases

More than 160 House Democrats, led by U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) today introduced legislation to defund and rescind President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel from Muslim countries and suspending the refugee program.

The SOLVE, or Statue of Liberty Values Act, introduced following profound confusion and fear after the implementation of an unprecedented Presidential Executive Order banning refugees and individuals from 7 majority Muslim countries. Over the weekend, Americans witnessed chaos at airports across the country as travelers, including Lawful Permanent Residents, children, and elderly persons were denied entry to the United States. 

Put simply, this Executive Order is bad policy and it makes our country less safe, and a growing chorus of foreign policy experts has condemned Trump’s Muslim and refugee ban as disastrous for U.S. foreign policy and national security.

“As a nation of immigrants that has been a refuge for people from around the world, these actions are contrary to who we are as a nation,” said Lofgren. “Trump’s Order not only harms our families and our economy, it betrays our core values and it makes us less safe. The Statute of Liberty Values Act states that President Trump’s Executive Order will have no effect or force of law and states that no funds or fees shall be used to implement the Order.”

“Donald Trump has recklessly instituted an executive order rooted in Islamophobia and xenophobia,” said Conyers. “It rationalizes fear mongering and is an unprecedented break with America’s humanitarian tradition, targeting the most vulnerable population in the world – refugees. What makes it even worse is that instead of making us safer, this order has the potential to bolster recruitment for terrorist groups. Today, I’m proud to cosponsor the SOLVE Act which would rescind this disastrous policy.”

Conyers is Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Lofgren is the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee.

Full bill text of the SOLVE Act can be found here.