Washington D.C., Jan 21, 2021 / 08:45 am
After President Joe Biden on his first day in office revoked a travel ban from certain Muslim-majority and African countries, leading U.S. bishops praised the move.
"We welcome yesterday's Proclamation, which will help ensure that those fleeing persecution and seeking refuge or seeking to reunify with family in the United States will not be turned away because of what country they are from or what religion they practice," stated Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Bishop Mario Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Cardinal Dolan chairs the religious freedom committee of the U.S. bishops' conference (USCCB), and Bishop Dorsonville chairs the conference migration committee.
On Wednesday, President Biden had issued a proclamation revoking President Trump's executive order from 2017, along with several of Trump's ensuing actions to restrict travel into the U.S. from several predominantly Muslim and African countries. Biden's proclamation was among his first executive actions while in office.