Washington, DC – The National Iranian American Council put out the following statement after receiving reports that President Trump may impose travel restrictions to countries that have wrongfully detained Americans through a new Executive Order:
“The Iranian government’s politically-motivated detentions of dual nationals are contemptible and must stop. But imposing bans on the right of Iranian Americans to travel to Iran would be yet another example of policies that impose collective punishment on innocent people rather than culpable officials.
“We are deeply concerned that this Executive Order may be used to restrict the right of Iranian Americans to choose whether to travel to Iran. As Secretary Rubio himself has said, this is a free country and Americans should be able to make their own informed decisions about where they travel.
“According to our recent Iranian American Community Poll conducted by YouGov, 38% of Iranian Americans travel to Iran — with nearly 19% traveling to Iran every 1-4 years. Iranian Americans have already been hit by the Trump administration’s travel ban that prevents our families from visiting us in the U.S. Under the ban, travel to Iran is among the only option for Americans to reunite with their loved ones.
“Most Iranian Americans do not travel to Iran with an American passport but with an Iranian passport, over which the U.S. government theoretically does not have authority. But a ban on traveling with a U.S. passport poses additional risks for Iranian Americans and represents a slippery slope. It would also further isolate the people of Iran and the U.S. from one another.
“We strongly oppose any move to restrict the freedom of our community to see their loved ones, whether bans on entry to the United States or bans on travel to Iran, and will continue our work to defend the civil rights of our community against such assaults.”