In an op-ed published earlier this week by far-right news outlet Breitbart, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., called for the banning of all immigration from the Middle East and North Africa, and advocated for the deportation of “every Islamist who was allowed to come here under the Biden administration.” Tuberville also made the unfounded claim that “entire neighborhoods” in Europe are now “ruled by Sharia law” due to increased migration from majority-Muslim countries, and stated that “If we don’t act now, the United States will end up the ‘United Caliphate of America.’”
This most recent entry in a recent string of Islamophobic statements and legislative actions taken by Sen. Tuberville came in direct response to the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, D.C. by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national with ties to the CIA.
“The horrific shooting of two National Guard soldiers by a deranged Afghan terrorist in D.C. last week made it clear that we should immediately ban all immigration from the Middle East and North Africa,” Tuberville wrote.
Now, the Council of American-Islamic Relations is decrying Tuberville’s “unhinged” comments, once again criticizing the senator for attacking immigrants and the American Muslim community. In a written statement provided to APR, CAIR’s National Deputy Director Edward Mitchell said that Tuberville’s comments are reflective of his refusal to meet with the Alabama Muslim community–an action which CAIR has requested Tuberville take on numerous occasions since the senator launched his bid to be Alabama’s next governor.
“The Alabama Muslim community has spent months inviting Tommy Tuberville to visit one of their houses of worship so that he can engage with the community, pose questions and learn. His refusal to do so is part of the reason that he continues to spew these increasingly unhinged rants about Muslims and immigrants,” Mitchell stated.
Mitchell added that Lakanwal’s actions are in no way a reflection of the Afghan community writ-large, nor a reflection of the broader international Muslim community as Tuberville seemed to suggest, and criticized the senator for blaming an entire religious community for the actions of one individual.
“Senator Tuberville already knows that the Afghan military veteran and former CIA asset who committed this horrific and unacceptable crime in Washington, D.C. does not represent the Afghan community any more than Timothy McVeigh represented all white military veterans when he blew up the Oklahoma city federal building,” said Mitchell.
“Our nation does not believe in collective punishment of entire races or religions for the actions of individual criminals. Senator Tuberville should call for this criminal to face full accountability under the law, not demand the collective and racist punishment of innocent people,” Mitchell concluded.
