Rep. Keith Ellison On Trump Order: 'The New Muslim Ban Is Still A Muslim Ban'

Just hours after it was announced, Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minneapolis condemned the Trump administration's revised immigration ban written to replace the previous executive order suspended by the courts.

"Let’s not kid ourselves: the new Muslim Ban is still a Muslim Ban," Ellison said in a statement Monday. "Yes, it’s lawyered up a bit, but that’s all."

Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, has been a relentless critic of the Trump administration's first immigration ban.

The new ban does not include Iraq in the list of targeted countries, though citizens from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will still be barred from coming to the country for 90 days.

In January, Ellison told "Face The Nation" that the Trump administration was wrong to implement what he called a "religious-based" ban:

Ellison said on Monday that "while the Administration made some token changes to its original Muslim Ban in order to try and appease the courts," the intention is the same.

"Trump called for this ban in the Presidential primary, stuck with it during the General Election, stated he would pursue it before his Inauguration, and implemented it a week after taking office," he said. "Only when it was defeated in the courts did he tweak this order."

"Just like the previous Executive Order, this new order seeks to ban people from entering our country because of their religion. Plain and simple. The U.S. Constitution says religious tests and bans are wrong. The new Muslim Ban may not ban all Muslims, but the people who are banned are banned for being Muslim."

"Any such ban violates our constitution and is at odds with our founding principles," Ellison concluded.

Ellison was re-elected to his sixth term in Congress in November. In February, Ellison lost the election to become the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee to former Obama administration Labor secretary Tom Perez.

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