All Categories - Amplifying Muslim American voices in Congress

Tell Senate: No Ban Now, No Ban Ever

4/14/2021

BREAKING- The NO BAN Act passed in the House on April 21st!
Help us push the Senate to pass the NO BAN Act next.

“How Can I Help?”

Contact your Senator
We’ve made it easy for you, use our sample script to contact your own Senator. As a constituent, your member values your opinion- and contacting your representative increases the traction on key issues such as the NO BAN Act. Take action with Poligon on the NO BAN Act today.

Read our Action Alert
Poligon has been working tirelessly from the beginning to ensure the NO BAN Act does not get neglected by Congress, too many lives have been at stake and continue to be at risk due to the implications of the 2016 executive order. Our brothers and sisters need us to be educated, active, and advocates.

Donate to Poligon
Poligon is committed to meeting with members of Congress to further advocate for this historical piece of legislation. Support Poligon today.

The NO BAN Act will:

Prevent any president from banning people because of their faith or national origin.
Impose limitations on executive authority to suspend or restrict immigrants from entering the U.S.
Prohibit religious discrimination in immigration laws, specifically those without statutory basis.

Here’s a sample call script to get you started:
"Hello Senator ______,
My name is ______ and I’m a constituent of _____(State), in the______ (District #). The NO BAN Act was passed in the House. I urge you to vote YES on the NO BAN Act. Banning individuals on the basis of religion and ethnicity does not represent American values and it violates our Constitution. Too many lives have been at stake and continue to be at risk due to Trump’s Muslim Ban. Help us ensure this never happens again. Will you say YES to the NO BAN Act?"

Have questions? Email us at info@poligonnational.org.

Tell the Senate: Pass the For the People Act

3/17/2021

Our democracy is broken. But we have an opportunity to fix it.

The For the People Act ( S.1), is the boldest democracy reform bill introduced in decades. We are on a path to getting once-in-a-generation legislation to the President’s desk, but we need to make our voices heard to ensure it passes in the Senate!

If enacted, the For the People Act will:

Protect and strengthen our right to vote, especially in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.
Combat corruption by passing pro-ethics measures to clean up our government.
End the dominance of big money in politics so the people's voice can be heard.

Restore Public Trust in the Election Systems
The United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among developed nations, where nearly a quarter of all eligible voters are not registered. If passed, this bill can establish automatic voter registration, prohibit partisan gerrymandering, enhance federal support for voting system security, and bring an end to the use of dark money in politics by strengthening ethics laws and campaign finance oversight.

Prioritize Equal Access to the Polls
The For the People Act will modernize our election administration systems and provide practical solutions to long-standing problems that were exacerbated amidst the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 electoral process saw deep voter disenfranchisement, as false claims of voter fraud raged rampant, and mail-in ballots were villainized with misinformation. Such issues cultimanted into the distortion of the democratic process and the undermining of trust in our electoral processes.

S.1 will ensure a more secure democracy and protect the right to vote!

However, WE NEED YOUR HELP to ensure the bill passes in the Senate.

Learn More:

Tell Your Senators to Pass S.1:For the People Act
Click “start writing” to send a custom message directly to Senate leadership before it's too late. Contact your Senator and urge them to vote "YES" on S.1 with no amendments. Not sure what to say? We have a sample script ready for you!

"Hi, my name is ________ and I am a constituent. I am reaching out to request that Senator __________ votes YES on For the People Act (S.1) without any amendments. This bill protects the freedom to vote, ensures the integrity of our elections, and holds our elected officials accountable. I urge the Senator to act swiftly and pass the For the People Act because it is a pro-democracy, pro-public integrity piece of legislation. Will the Senator do so? Thank you for your time."

Tell Congress to Pass the American Rescue Plan

3/11/2021

Congress has passed the American Rescue Plan. COVID-19 has now claimed more than 500,000 lives, and disproportionately impacted high numbers of Black and Brown lives! You may have heard of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, a comprehensive legislation known as the "American Rescue Plan".

The American Rescue Plan will:

Increase access to vaccinations, COVID-19 testing, and PPE;
Extend Unemployment Insurance, food assistance, and stimulus checks;
Extend eviction and foreclosure moratoria;
Provide financial support for small businesses and school reopening plans;
Increase the minimum wage to $15/hour, and much more!

Find your Representative and urge them to support the American Rescue Plan! The livelihood of American families are at stake, and it is up to us to hold our Members of Congress accountable.

Tell Congress: Pass the NO BAN Act

3/1/2021

Throughout American history, immigration policies have been used to target Jews, Catholics, Mormons and Muslims, among others. With the NO BAN Act in Congress, we have a real chance at ending religious discrimination in immigration laws.

We join over 100 Muslim and immigrants’ rights organizations in applauding the reintroduction of the NO BAN Act, in the House of Representatives on Thursday, February 25. Poligon proudly advocated for and endorsed Rep. Judy Chu’s (D-CA-27) introduction of the bill in 2019 and again in the 117th Congress. The bill is co-sponsored by 137 House Representatives, championed in the Senate by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), and is included in President Biden’s U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. Read Poligon’s full statement here.
We will never forget the countless American families ripped apart by the #MuslimBan and #AfricanBan — we must ensure this discriminatory policy never happens again. Your letter can make a difference.
Tell your Representative to co-sponsor and vote yes on the NO BAN Act today!

The NO BAN Act will:

Prevent any president from banning people because of their faith or national origin.
Impose limitations on executive authority to suspend or restrict immigrants from entering the U.S.
Prohibit religious discrimination in immigration laws, specifically those without statutory basis.

Here’s a sample call script to get you started:
Hello, my name is ______ and I’m a constituent of Representative _____. I’m calling to ask you to vote to pass the NO BAN Act. Banning individuals on the basis of religion and ethnicity does not represent American values and it violates our Constitution. I urge Representative _____ to vote “YES” on supporting the No Ban Act. Will the Representative do so?

Have questions? Email us at info@poligonnational.org.

Tell Your Representatives to Pass HR 1: For the People Act

1/14/2021

January 6th 2021. This date will forever be remembered as an attack on our democracy, brought on by a violent mob of insurrectionists who refuse to accept the 2020 election results. This was an attack on the collective will of the people and demonstrated the urgency of reforming our democracy. With a newly elected progressive majority in Congress, now is our chance to get the job done!

We have a chance to fix our democracy by passing the For The People Act, the most sweeping set of reforms to our democracy in a generation — to win, we need your help.
Call your U.S. House Representative today at 1-888-246-5947 to urge them to support passing the For the People Act as a first order of business in the new Congress.

Here's What the For the People Act Would Do-
-Combat corruption by holding government officials accountable with new ethics standards.
- Restore voting rights and offer new protections for voters;
- Drive big money out of politics; and
- End gerrymandering so that electoral districts are fairly drawn;

President-elect Joe Biden has stated that a “first priority” of his administration will be democracy solutions like those in the For the People Act— and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she’ll introduce the bill as a first order of business in the new Congress. You can read more about "the Case for HR 1" here. It’s up to us to demonstrate the strong grassroots support to ensure this legislation gets passed into law.

We appreciate your advocacy efforts, we need your voice.

Time is running out! Demand an emergency COVID aid package.

12/9/2020

The United States has surpassed over 282,000 deaths due to COVID-19! Congress has failed to act in the face of tremendous economic battles impacting the most vulnerable communities. Congress continues to negotiate a COVID-19 relief package, but time is running out as Congressional recess is fast approaching.

Join us in calling on our elected officials to immediately pass a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package and ensure that families are protected in such difficult times. A bipartisan $908 billion framework has been introduced without any legislative text. Vulnerable communities deserve a stronger sense of urgency. We urge the Senate to pass a COVID-19 relief bill that protects:

The unemployed and low income individuals: Enact quarterly targeted stimulus checks, accessible to low income individuals, including immigrants, through the duration of the pandemic. While also extending unemployment insurance benefits.
Immigrants: Provide free access to COVID-19 testing and treatment to uninsured people, regardless of their immigration status. Extend stimulus benefits to immigrant taxpayers from previous relief bills. Extend work permits and protections from deportation for immigrants.
Access to nutrition: Increase SNAP’s maximum benefit by %15, with an average $25/person per month, and expand the minimum SNAP benefit from $15/month to $30/month.
Access to healthcare: Fund health services for COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccine development and distribution.
Housing: Enact emergency rental assistance and prevent evictions, utility shutoffs, and homelessness.

WE NEED YOUR VOICE: Vulnerable communities cannot wait!

Write to your senator and demand they provide immediate relief to people impacted by COVID-19 today!

Urge your Representative to Protect the Fourth Amendment and End anti-Muslim Discrimination!

11/19/2020

Recent news reports revealed that the data of over 98 million users has been compromised by the Muslim Pro App. While consumer-facing platforms are often legally restricted from sharing such information, certain legal loopholes allow for data brokers and third party firms without a direct relationship to consumers to share private data with government institutions.

Poligon Education Fund is calling on our Representatives in Congress to investigate such loopholes and protect the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Help us protect the American Muslim community: Tell your Representative to investigate personal data privacy concerns and uphold our Fourth Amendment rights.

Our Fourth Amendment rights should not be compromised. Any and all legal loopholes in federal privacy laws must be addressed with the utmost concern.

Policies that use religion as a basis for law enforcement scrutiny are unconstitutional. They foster stigma against law-abiding American Muslims that could have dangerous consequences. Other ramifications include widespread community fear about informants and law enforcement, interference with practicing one’s faith (through mosque attendance, Muslim student group participation, Islamic dress, etc.), and silencing free speech.

The civil rights of American Muslims have been under constant threat since 9/11, and undermined by discriminatory programs and legislation launched in the name of national security. With a long history of mass surveillance programs, discriminatory profiling, and federal bans, manifested in legislations such as the PATRIOT Act, Muslim Ban, American Muslim voices and lived experiences must be amplified in the halls of Congress.

We urge American Muslims and their allies to push their elected officials to call for an end to unconstitutional, ineffective, and harmful programs that violate the civil rights of Muslims and preemptively consider them guilty on account of their faith and ethnicity.

Urge the Next President & Congress to Ensure a Democracy That Works for All

10/6/2020

It’s no secret that the U.S. Elections are driven by big corporate donors rather than us everyday citizens. And the next presidential administration is tasked with addressing important issues that impact our communities, such as: repealing the Muslim ban, overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, and dismantling systemic racism in America. But for the next administration to do that effectively, our democracy needs reform to be more representative and inclusive.

We urge the next President and Congress to pass the For the People Act (H.R.1) as a first priority in their administration. In March 2019, the bill passed in the House with unanimous support, but the Senate has yet to bring it up for a vote.

The For the People Act (H.R.1) is a package of proven reforms that would:

Expand and protect voting rights and access to the ballot;
Put Americans ahead of Big Money donors, by creating a system of public financing which can reduce candidates’ demand for big donors by amplifying support from constituents;
End gerrymandering so that electoral districts are fairly drawn;
Hold our elected officials to higher ethical standards.

This bill creates a more inclusive and representative political system. We need a fair and functional democratic system, where everyone can participate, every vote is counted, and every voice is heard. We demand a democracy that works for all of us.

Sign your name to show the next administration and Congress that Day 1 is for Democracy the and to pass For the People Act.

This petition will be delivered to Congress in January, at the start of the next Administration.

October Congressional Recess

9/29/2020

The House of Representatives adjourns October 5th for their recess until November 13th, and the Senate from October 12th until November 6th. Congressional recess is when your members of Congress will be back in your home state. It is a great opportunity to call or email your members of Congress directly to tell them about the issues that are most important to you!

Here’s how:
Who are your members of Congress?
Click here to find out who represents you, how to contact them, and where their in-district offices are located. Click here to find contact information on your Senate members.

Want to set up a constituent meeting? Learn how to schedule a meeting and make the most impact with our Office Visit How-to Guide. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many offices will be holding virtual meetings. Try to schedule your meeting as early in advance as possible.

Want to attend a virtual town hall? Town Hall Project has a simple search engine to find out when your representative’s next virtual or telephone town hall meeting is. Just enter your zip code. Use our Town Hall How-to Guide, also available in this toolkit, to help you prepare. Invite your friends and family to join you in making your voices heard!

Not sure what to talk about?
We've got you covered. Our policy briefs and action alerts on Islamophobia, bullying, and civil rights are great to look over and bring along to a meeting. You can also stay up to date on legislation going through Congress with our Hill Happenings newsletter.

Here are a few ideas for issues to address:

Supreme Court Justice Decision: The race to fill a seat on the Supreme Court left vacant by the recent passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hinges on approval from the Senate. The Senate must confirm a Supreme Court Judge that will protect the laws that we rely on, including voting rights, women’s rights, immigrant rights, and access to affordable health care. Urge the Senate to wait until after Inauguration Day to confirm a new Supreme Court justice. (Check out Poligon’s Supreme Court nomination guide for more information).

Coronavirus Package: The United States has surpassed over 200,000 deaths due to COVID-19 and millions of families are financially struggling due to the pandemic. Congress and the White House have not successfully negotiated on a comprehensive COVID-19 Relief Package. Urge your member of Congress to act now and pass a COVID-19 Relief Package that includes: boosts to SNAP, immigrant inclusion, and funding for election security. Click here to learn more and send a letter to your Senator to provide relief to families impacted by the pandemic.

Protecting Our Democracy Act: House Democrats introduced the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which aims to prevent presidential abuses, restore the system of checks and balances, increase transparency, and protect elections from foreign interference. Provisions within the bill include suspending the statute of limitations for federal offenses committed by a current president and strengthening Congress’ tools to enforce lawfully-issued subpoenas. Urge your Representative to protect our democracy by supporting this bill.

The Delivering for America Act: The House voted to pass H.R.8015, the Delivering for America Act, which prohibits the USPS from implementing any changes to operations it had in place on January 1, 2020, and includes a $25 billion in funding for the Postal Service. Additionally, the bill would prevent the USPS from implementing any changes to the level of service, closure or consolidation of any post office or reduction in hours, and would allow for overtime. Delivering mail-in ballots is an essential function of the post office and is a safe and secure method of voting. Urge your Senator to act now and protect USPS.

BONUS: Have you registered to vote?

The upcoming 2020 election is critical for Muslims in America. Muslims must mobilize their votes and increase their civic engagement to demonstrate strength and solidarity during times when so many of our fellow communities are under attack. Check your current voter registration status or get registered to vote!

Let us know at info@poligonnational.org how your visit goes, or make a post about your visit on social media. Be sure to tag @poligonnational on Twitter and Instagram!

RBG + What Happens After A Supreme Court Vacancy?

9/19/2020

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at age 87 is a huge loss for this nation. Justice Ginsburg fought for the vulnerable, challenged the unequal system, and was a trailblazer for change. As we cherish her memory and efforts to uphold the Constitution, we are also mindful that her passage could potentially lead to President Trump appointing his third Supreme Court justice.

For Americans wondering what the next steps are, check out our Supreme Court confirmation guide.

it is vital that our communities contact their Senators and urge them to delay a confirmation until after the inauguration day. Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 to voice your opinion.

As a reminder, we are just 45 days away from a monumental election. Don’t miss your chance to participate. To learn how to register to vote or check your voter status, click here.

In the wise words of Justice Ginsburg, “someday there will be great people, great elected representatives who will say, ‘enough of this nonsense, let’s be the kind of legislature the United States should have.’”