MPower Change

Campaigns

• Governors: Stop Your Collective Punishment of Refugees in Need

  We are all horrified by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut, and other parts of the world, and mourn the loss of innocent lives. But an increasing number of reactionary governors across the U.S. have used these tragedies to announce that they will stop all acceptance of Syrian refugees. We stand against this collective and cruel punishment of refugees. These individuals are escaping the very same terrorism that the world has witnessed in Paris and Beirut. Syrians have been killed by the thousands, millions have been displaced, and their entire livelihoods destroyed by the likes of ISIS and the Assad regime. The United States must be steadfast in its commitment to remain a sanctuary for refugees fleeing political and religious persecution—from all across the world. We demand these governors stop using their hatred and xenophobia to shut out Syrian refugees who are in dire need of normalcy and safety. We call on these governors to refrain from making decisions rooted in misinformation and fear. Let us remember the words etched on the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of a long tradition of welcoming immigrants, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

  50,707 of 75,000 Signatures

  Created by Linda Sarsour
• Re-instate Christian professor who wore a headscarf to show solidarity with Muslim-Americans

  My entire life, I've stood alongside people of different faith and ethnic backgrounds in the fight for justice, because I know that solidarity is the only way we'll all win. That's why I was appalled to learn about a Christian professor's suspension from Wheaton College for speaking out in support of Muslims. Dr. Larycia Hawkins is a political scientist who has taught at Wheaton College in Illinois since 2007. She wore a headscarf to class to show solidarity with Muslim-American women, who have faced increased hate crimes as Islamophobia has spiked this election season. Shortly thereafter, she was placed on leave. Dr. Hawkins had also posted on Facebook that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, which the college said failed to "faithfully represent the college's evangelical Statement of Faith." The college is entitled to stand by its theology, but Dr. Hawkins' was showing us the best of character. Her action was rooted in a concern for the people around her--even people with different beliefs--and a concern for justice. These aren't principles to be suspended for.

  84,713 of 100,000 Signatures

  Created by Linda Sarsour
• Reject Trump's Muslim Ban

  Donald Trump has signed an executive order blocking refugees from seeking safety and restricting immigration from Muslim countries—a Muslim ban in everything but name. While the Trump administration has backpedaled on his call for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States"—realizing the weakness of his mandate and the unpopularity of his policies—it's clear that these orders are driven by a deep-seated, almost maniacal anti-Muslim hate that has captured Trump and his cabinet. And his call to block Syrian refugees—some of the most vulnerable people in the world—is shockingly morally bankrupt, even for someone like Trump. We reject targeting of anyone based on their religion or where they come from, and call on members of Congress to go on the record and vocally reject Trump's Muslim ban.

  379,448 of 400,000 Signatures

  Created by Linda Sarsour
• Delete @realDonaldTrump

  Trump just provoked nuclear war against North Korea on Twitter—again—which would kill millions of people. And that's not his only potential violation of the social media platform's terms of service.  A significant number of Trump's tweets have also included language of hate, racial discrimination, fear mongering, and outright lies. Tell Twitter to Delete @realDonaldTrump for misuse.

  58,638 of 75,000 Signatures

  Created by MPower Change
• Let Our Families In

  When the Supreme Court issued its ruling last week, allowing Trump's Muslim Ban to go into effect, it included an exemption for individuals with "bona fide" ties to U.S. persons or entities, such as having family members here. But this morning, the State Department—headed by Trump appointee Rex Tillerson—issued guidelines that redefine family in the narrowest and cruelest way possible, limiting the exceptions to just immediate family members and sons- and daughters-in-law. This means that persons with other ties to the U.S.—grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews—are banned due to the racist and anti-Muslim executive orders. This narrow re-definition of family is unacceptable and is clearly intended to break up Muslim and refugee families. We call on elected officials to demand that the State Department reverse these guidelines immediately and let all of our families in. According to Tillerson's State Department: grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiancees, and any other relatives do not fit the definition of family members. Yes, you read that right—the Trump administration doesn't think grandmas and grandpas count as family members, and is banning them from the country based on nothing other than where they come from. The executive orders and these State Department guidelines are clearly built on a foundation of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-refugee hate. And it's clear that the administration is still bent on implementing as much of its Muslim Ban as it can get away with. It's up to us to stop them from getting away with it. Tell your elected officials to let Tillerson and the State Department know that it's not up to them to tell us what our families look like—and to call on them to reverse their bizarre and inhumane guidelines.

  16,350 of 20,000 Signatures

  Created by Widad Hassan
• Prevent a "Trump TV" Takeover

  If Sinclair Broadcasting Group's plan to buy Tribune Media, Co. is successful, the reach of its racist news coverage will be dramatically increased. This is about protecting freedom of the press and standing against corporate consolidation of our local news outlets. Sinclair has a blatant history of Islamophobia, allowing its newscasters to make racist statements everyday in its uniform "Terrorism Alert Desk," which has notably used Muslims as synonymous with terrorists in its reports. The Terrorism Alert Desk is a Sinclair "must-run" that is produced centrally by the company and airs every single day across Sinclair outlets, whether or not there is something to report on.

  12,751 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Linda Sarsour
• Grant Abdullah's Mother a Waiver to See Her Dying Son

  This story is absolutely heartbreaking. Trump's Muslim Ban is preventing the mother of a 2-year-old boy on life support from coming to the country to say goodbye to her son. Abdullah Hassan is currently being kept alive at a children's hospital in Oakland. But because his mother, Shaima Swileh, is a Yemeni national, she can't get a visa to come to the U.S. to spend time with him during his last few days. This is cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable. The U.S. State Department has the authority to grant waivers to the Ban, and it would be the height of cruelty for them to continue to deny one to Abdullah's mother. Click here and send a message to the State Department and the Embassy in Cairo—when Swileh is currently living—and demand that they immediately grant her a visa to see her dying son. There's only one reason that Shaima Swileh is being prevented from seeing Abdullah: Trump's bigoted plan to keep Muslims out of the U.S., which was upheld this past summer by right-wing justices on the Supreme Court. One of the arguments that the administration used in court was that the Ban's waiver process supposedly provides relief for banned individuals to get visas. In practice, the waiver process has been a sham—with less than 2% of applicants being granted waivers. But, there's precedent that shows that, if we make enough noise, the State Department will grant waivers in exception to the Ban. This past summer, lawyers challenging the Muslim Ban in the Supreme Court highlighted the case of Shaema Alomari, a 10-year-old with cerebral palsy who was banned because she's Yemeni. Weeks later, the family received waivers and was allowed to the enter the U.S. Let's make enough noise that the State Department is forced to address this travesty and reunite Abdullah with his mother. Sign here to send them a message. Let's get this done #ForAbdullah, his mother, and their family. P.S. After you've signed the petition, please make sure to share it! Let's get enough buzz going on social media that the State Department is forced to address this.

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  Created by Ishraq Ali, MPower Change
• Cancel Anti-Muslim Law Enforcement Training in Arizona

  The Mesa Police Department in Maricopa County, Arizona, is hosting a training by John Guandolo—a disgraced former FBI agent known for peddling hateful anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. Guandolo’s theories range from simply bigoted to downright bizarre: along with once stating that mosques "don't have a First Amendment right to do anything," he’s produced a video claiming that a Delaware imam who touched his nose during the Pledge Of Allegiance was signaling "civilizational jihad." He also believes that former CIA Director John Brennan had secretly converted to Islam. This is the type of training that Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Mesa Police Chief Michael Dvorak think is worth spending taxpayer money on. Demand that they cancel it. Guandolo would be a comical figure if he wasn’t given credibility—and public money—by officials like Bill Montgomery and Michael Dvorak. It’s time for these Arizona officials to stop mainstreaming hate and cancel Guandolo’s training. Other Arizona police departments have publicly vowed not to attend Guandolo’s trainings. And law enforcement offices around the country, from Kansas to Virginia, have previously cancelled or pulled out of his trainings. But just as Guandolo is a fringe anti-Muslim extremist, the Mesa Police Department and Maricopa County Attorney are acting as outliers by embracing—and paying him for—his bigoted views. In 2014, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery spent close to $40,000 in public money to bring Guandolo in for training. Now, once again, he’s reportedly booked a space at the Mesa Police Department to have Guandolo train local law enforcement officers in his bizarre and toxic brand of anti-Muslim bigotry. Sign and let Bill Montgomery and Michael Dvorak know: John Guandolo and his trainings have no place in Arizona—or anywhere else.

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  Created by Imraan Siddiqui
• #IMarchWithLinda

  Linda Sarsour is an extraordinary leader, a selfless organizer, and a fierce advocate for justice for everyday people. Alt-right fanatics and Trump supporters are using lies and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories to distract from the largest protest of a president in US history—the Women's March, which Linda co-organized. I’ve worked with Linda for years on protecting civil rights and holding police and politicians accountable. I know that right now marching with her means making a long-term commitment to resisting this new administration and the hate that’s come in with it. That’s what signing this pledge is about. Linda’s been targeted by these bigots before—we know she’ll be alright, God-willing. But let’s let her know how many people have her back. We won't let them spread their alternative facts and attack someone based on their religion. We march with, you, Linda—yesterday, today, and tomorrow. #IMarchwithLinda

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  Created by Kayla Santosuosso
• Tell Southwest Airlines: End Discrimination Against Arab and Muslim Passengers

  Southwest Airlines claims to operate on the principle of #SouthwestHeart, but when it comes to Muslim and Arab customers, it seems to be #SouthwestHeartless. On April 6th, the airline kicked 26 year old Khairuldeen Makhzoomi off a flight after a customer overheard him speaking Arabic on his phone. Makhzoomi was then subjected to an FBI interrogation—simply for making a phone call to his uncle. On April 13th, a Southwest flight attendant removed Hakima Abdulle, a woman of Somali descent wearing a hijab, from a flight after she tried to switch seats with fellow passengers. These recent cases are just part of a trend of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab discrimination by Southwest Airlines—last November, the airline delayed two men from boarding a flight after they had a conversation in Arabic together. That same week, a Southwest pilot removed several Arabic-speaking passengers from a plane after they tried to be seated together. People shouldn't be barred from air travel just for speaking Arabic, being Muslim, or wearing a hijab. It's clear that Southwest needs to make some changes in how it treats its customers. We're calling on them to publicly apologize for discrimination, review their policies, and implement anti-bias training for flight crews.

  289 of 300 Signatures

  Created by Linda Sarsour