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Last month, 32 individuals identified as "mostly faith leaders" by the San Diego Union-Tribune demonstrated at the U.S. southern border and were arrested. A December 10 Union-Tribune article and other accounts, such as a Huffington Post report and a press release from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), painted sympathetic portraits.
The Union-Tribune quoted Dallas imam Omar Suleiman: "We refuse to accept that this is normal ... You have a right to seek peace. You have a right to seek asylum." The Huffington Post noted that Hussam Ayloush, the long-serving executive director of CAIR's Los Angeles chapter, was among the first arrested. He told the reporter: "My faith in God is the most important part of my life ... And it was my faith, love and passion for dignity ... that led me to protest."
Ayloush and Suleiman frame their activism at the border as simply the behavior their faith dictates. However, statements both men made at a conference just weeks earlier suggest that potent political ideology actually motivates their efforts.
From November 22 through 24, the Muslim American Society conducted its 21st annual Los Angeles convention at the Ontario Convention Center. Ayloush and Suleiman both spoke on the 24th; Ayloush moderated a panel on Syria and Yemen at 1:30 p.m., and at 5:30 p.m. Suleiman delivered the evening's keynote speech. Listening to Ayloush and Suleiman's speeches there, you would be hard-pressed to understand why either of them thinks migrants should flee to a country allegedly dominated by white supremacy and blood-soaked greed.