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Dear Muslim Advocates Friends and Family — As-Salaam-Alaikum,
My name is Naomi Tsu and I am the interim Legal Director of Muslim Advocates. As we reach the end of Ramadan, I want to share a story with you about the vital legal work we are doing to defend the religious freedom rights of Muslims—including those who are incarcerated.
I am honored to be working with two Muslim Advocates clients, Dr. Rafiq Sabir and Mr. James Conyers, on their lawsuit against a federal prison that prevented them from praying together. Despite the risk of retaliation, and with the help of Muslim Advocates and our co-counsel Renee Redman [[link removed]] , Dr. Sabir and Mr. Conyers bravely sued to enforce their legally protected rights. In June 2022, we won an important battle when a federal court ruled that prison officials should have known that they could not prohibit group prayer like this without justification. Despite this victory, Dr. Sabir is still encountering guards who break up Muslim group prayer while Mr. Conyers, now on the outside, is navigating obstacles placed in his path because he has been in prison.
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I am so proud to lead the Muslim Advocates Legal Team as they continue to advocate for Dr. Sabir and Mr. Conyers, but this kind of work is never done alone. As we engaged with the chaplain at a prison in Pennsylvania that broke up group prayer—where Dr. Sabir was transferred after we filed his lawsuit—we did so knowing that there are committed and brave grassroots organizations like the Philly Muslim Freedom Fund [[link removed]] (PMFF) that work tirelessly against the over-incarceration of Muslim communities. Founded during Ramadan 2021, PMFF offers cash bail assistance and reentry support to people in need. From helping people regain their freedom to assisting the formerly incarcerated in navigating obstacles once they are out of prison, PMFF’s work is essential—and we are grateful for it.
Thanks to your support, the Muslim Advocates Legal Team has much to celebrate as we near the end of Ramadan 2023. I’ll mention two additional successes here. In February 2023, the judge in Emami v. Blinken, our case to reunite families separated by the Muslim and African Bans, admonished the government to implement a solution for all people wrongfully denied visas under the Bans—potentially 41,000 people. We are negotiating with the government on what would constitute meaningful relief. This winter, we also filed two submissions to the United Nations independent expert mechanisms, in advance of a visit to the U.S. this spring. The submissions build on Muslim Advocates’ depth of experience responding to discriminatory, anti-Muslim law enforcement practices and address the related anti-Black racism encoded in so-called “predictive policing” practices that lead to unwarranted surveillance, targeting, and violence against our communities.
I’m so proud of the skill, courage, and perseverance of the Muslim Advocates Legal Team as we continue to pursue justice and a better tomorrow for everyone. We are grateful to our many supporters who, over the years, have continued to show that they recognize the importance of Muslim Advocates’ contributions on the emergent social justice issues of the day. We hope you will consider making a gift to help us to advance our mission. Any gift you can make helps sustain us and amplifies our impact.
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