Senior US official: Trump’s Muslim ban proposal unconstitutional
US State Department’s Special Representative to Muslim Communities Shaarik H. Zafar (Getty image)
Kuala Lumpur (IINA) – US State Department’s Special Representative to Muslim Communities Shaarik H. Zafar said that a ban on Muslims entering the United States as proposed by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is not possible under the US Constitution and American legal structure, The Straits Times reported.
Zafar said everywhere he travelled, he was asked about the possibility of such a ban being imposed.
Making use of a visit here to send a clear message to Muslims in Malaysia and other parts of the world, he said: “The US welcomes visitors from Malaysia and every part of the world. We will never, ever, ban any traveler based on religion or ethnicity. That’s simply not within our legal structure.”
The 41-year-old, who assumed his post two years ago, is responsible for driving the US Secretary of State’s policy of engagement with the global Muslim community.
Trump had, after a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by suspected sympathizers of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) last December, called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US. His remarks sparked an outrage in the Muslim world.
In an interview here on Friday, Zafar explained: “The American Constitution and legal system is crystal clear that it is absolutely illegal to create bans based on religion, gender or national identity.”
“For travelers from Malaysia and all over the world, the US is open for business and will remain so.”
On hate speech and hate crimes against Muslims in the US, he said the US government was concerned about the rising intolerance.
Zafar said one of his previous jobs was as a lawyer handling cases of discrimination and hatred after the Sept 11 terror attacks in the US. “After 9/11, we had a rise in hate crimes against Arabs, South Asians and Middle Easterners.
Zafar has been to Malaysia twice in his current job where he was involved in various joint US-Malaysia programs.
He cited a program at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa where a group of students were on a project to help counter violent extremist narratives. Another project which his office funds is an entrepreneurship program at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.
“What strikes me about Malaysia is what an incredibly diverse country this is, and like in the US, this diversity is a national asset,” Zafar said.