Community Organizations to Host Town Hall on White House Travel Ban

Signs at Los Angeles International Airport offering translation help for newcomer immigrants.

The Armenian Rights Watch Committee (ARWC) of the Armenian Bar Association finds the Executive Order issued on January 27, 2017 may threaten established United States law and international legal obligations.

PASADENA, Calif.””The Armenian Bar Association has mobilized a task force ready to actively address matters involving any deprivation of rights resulting from enforcement of the Executive Order by President Donald Trump. To that end, a town hall meeting will take place at 8pm on February 9, 2017, at 2242 E. Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena, California in collaboration with the Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region (ANCA-WR), the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), the ARF Shant Chapter, the Armenian Law Students Association (ALSA), and the Syrian Armenian Relief (SARF). We have also invited the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to join us. Of course, we welcome the participation of other stakeholders to discuss these matters clearly impacting the discourse of human and civil rights in this country.

The United States government is obligated””under both US. Law and international law””to allow for the application of the asylum claims by non-citizens presenting themselves at U.S. borders and ports of entry.

The Immigration and Nationality Act provides, in no uncertain terms, that “[a]ny alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States. . . irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum.”