CNN: Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush Responds to Trump's Religious Liberty Commission
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Analysis
Tracking Trump's executive orders: DEI programs
Executive Order 14173: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
Date Signed: January 21, 2025
Key Provisions:
- Executive Order 14173 claims that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs undermine hard work, excellence, and individual achievement, and result in unlawful, identity-based discrimination
- On these grounds, Executive Order 14173 will terminate any “discriminatory” preferences, policies, programs, regulations, or actions related to DEI within all executive departments and agencies
Interfaith Alliance Counterpoints:
- Interfaith Alliance is deeply concerned about the dissolution of DEI programs within the federal government. DEI programs have been instrumental in creating opportunities for exceptionally qualified people from underrepresented groups who have historically faced discrimination in (government) employment and education.
- Interfaith Alliance asserts that these programs work to level the playing field and foster equity for all individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, so everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and thrive.
- We also feel the need to express the harms that this Executive Order inflicts on religious freedom, since the administration is simultaneously touting its commitment to that cause. Efforts to foster inclusion for federal government employees’ private religious expression have already been undermined by this order.
Executive Order 14151: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
Date Signed: January 20, 2025
Key Provisions:
- Executive Order 14151 directs all federal programs, policies, and positions related to DEI to cease
- This Executive Order also has directed any and all federal “environmental justice” initiatives and activities to be dissolved
- Executive Order 14151 also instructs the Office of Management and Budget to investigate environmental, DEI, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs to assess the “economic and social cost” that these programs have within federal agencies
Interfaith Alliance Counterpoints:
- Interfaith Alliance is concerned that the termination of DEI and DEIA programs may reduce opportunities for historically marginalized groups, such as communities of color, women, and LGBTQ individuals, among others, and bar these groups from having equal representation and fair treatment within federal agencies.
- Interfaith Alliance holds that these programs are crucial in addressing systemic inequalities and ensuring that all Americans, regardless of background, are represented equitably in government employment and services.
Transcript
The Trump Administration’s Latest Attacks on Muslim Community Leaders
After months in detention, we finally received the good news that Ohio chaplain Ayman Soliman was released from jail as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dropped his deportation case. Soliman was an interfaith chaplain at a children’s hospital and a longtime leader of the Ohio Muslim community with deep ties to interfaith work across the state. As ProPublica reported, Soliman’s asylum status was restored and his application for a green card was revived. This news came through the dedicated hard work and advocacy of many organizations, particularly CAIR-Ohio and his colleagues at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, who were fired for speaking out on his behalf.
Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation case has alarming implications
Earlier this year, during the holy month of Ramadan, ICE agents followed Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil home after he broke his fast and forcibly detained him without a warrant. Khalil, a Palestinian activist, was then disappeared into an unmarked vehicle and taken to an unknown location as his pregnant wife watched and pleaded for information. It was later revealed that Khalil had been moved to a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, where he faced deportation. He was held for over three months in poor conditions, missing his graduation and the birth of his first child.
True Religious Freedom Means Protecting Our Faith Leaders, Not Detaining Them
In early July, Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his asylum status was terminated in June. In response, local faith leaders organized a prayer vigil, rally, and peaceful march; during the march at least 15 protesters were detained by local police and charged with felony rioting.