BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is under fire after calling for a nationwide ban on all Islamic immigrants and the deportation of Muslim immigrants, a proposal civil rights advocates and faith leaders say revives some of the most discriminatory chapters in American history. The Republican senator’s remarks came after a recent shooting involving an Afghan national in Washington, D.C., which he cited as justification for targeting Muslims as a group.
Tuberville has already drawn criticism this year for pushing legislation to bar Islamic religious law, or Sharia, from any role in American courts and to deny visas or immigration benefits to people he claims support it. Muslim and civil rights organizations say those bills are unnecessary because U.S. courts are bound by the Constitution and existing law, and argue the proposals single out one faith community in violation of basic equal-protection principles. They also warn that linking “Islamic” identity to security threats in law and policy can fuel hate crimes, harassment and discrimination in workplaces, schools and public life.
Legal scholars and advocacy groups describe Tuberville’s latest call to ban Islamic immigrants and deport Muslim immigrants as running headlong into constitutional protections for religious freedom and equal treatment. Immigration law gives the federal government broad authority over who may enter or remain in the country, but courts have repeatedly held that the government cannot enact policies that explicitly favor or punish people based on their religion. Critics say a blanket prohibition tied to “Islamic” identity echoes discredited policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, national-origins quotas used to keep out Eastern and Southern Europeans, and World War II-era incarceration of Japanese Americans.
For many Alabama Muslims, the senator’s rhetoric lands as both personal and political, affecting families who have lived in the state for generations as well as more recent immigrants who work in health care, education, business and public service. Community leaders have emphasized that Muslims in Alabama and across the United States are a diverse group that includes U.S.-born citizens, refugees, green card holders and students, all of whom would be swept up in a religious test for entry or deportation. They say Tuberville’s framing reduces millions of people to a single stereotype and ignores their contributions to civic and economic life.
Birmingham-area faith and civil rights organizations also view the proposal as part of a broader backlash politics that targets racial, religious and LGBTQ+ minorities to mobilize voters. They note that modern civil-rights and immigration reforms were intended to move the country away from explicitly racist and religiously biased laws, and argue that calls to exclude Muslims by name push the United States back toward that earlier era. Local organizers in Birmingham are responding with public forums, interfaith events and voter-registration drives, urging residents who oppose such measures to make their voices heard in upcoming elections and to support groups providing legal and community assistance to Muslim neighbors.