Life. Liberty. The pursuit of happiness.
These are three examples of the "unalienable rights" America's Declaration of Independence specifically notes are given to all human beings by their Creator, and which governments are created to protect.
These rights extend to all Americans, regardless of creed or color. And this is what the One America Registry, which we are introducing today, is all about.
The One America Registry is a response to President Donald Trump's threat to establish a registry of all Muslims in the United States.
Sound Vision, along with our coalition of 50 other organizations, invites all Americans to register on One America Registry. The aim is to oppose policies and programs which seek to divide us. The proposed Muslim registry targets all American Muslims. It is similar to one that was created for Japanese-Americans during WWII.
Seventy-five years ago this Sunday, an Executive Order was passed which made Japanese-Americans enemies of the state. They were shipped off to internment camps. They lost their livelihoods, their properties, and in a number of cases, their lives.
The registry stripped these Americans of their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It was unconstitutional and unjust.
This is something our nation acknowledged in 1988 under another Republican President, Ronald Reagan. He signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent who were incarcerated in the internment camps. The legislation also offered a formal apology and financial compensation to each surviving victim.
American Muslims are as concerned about the security of our nation as our neighbors.
However, moves like the recent Muslim ban do not keep us safe. Such policies pave the way to a legal regime which not only harms our safety, interests, and stature globally, but undermines our values domestically.
If the Muslim Ban was illogical, a Muslim registry is outright unconstitutional, and unAmerican.
American Muslims are deeply grateful for the support from our neighbors and activists against the Muslim ban. We are specially thankful to the ACLU, the pro-bono lawyers, and elected leaders from the Democratic and Republican parties as well as mayors, governors, and the state attorney generals who stood up for American values.
Now we are asking everyone to join the One America Registry and our 10 Minutes a day campaign to uphold American values.
Once you register you will receive information about how to use your ten minutes a day to bring America together.
Our first request is that you start calling your representative and senators demanding they pre-empt the threat of Muslim Registry. We are calling upon all Americans to meet their congressperson during a "National Congressional Meet up week" February 18 to 26.
Please ask your Congressperson to stand up for American values by prohibiting the creation of any registry that classifies people on the basis of religion, race, or national origin.
We pray that God blesses this effort, and that we unite as Americans to uphold each other's unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our great nation.