In response to statements indicating that president-elect Donald Trump is considering a registry targeting Muslims in the United States, as well as statements from a key Trump supporter citing Japanese internment camps as precedent for such an action, People For the American Way President Michael Keegan issued the following statement:

“The internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War is an ugly stain on our nation’s history. Republicans at every level should rush to condemn any hint that we’d repeat that mistake by targeting Muslims or any other minority group.

“To be clear: Donald Trump’s campaign promise to create a registry of Muslims is unconstitutional and un-American. Any elected official or public leader who purports to care about religious liberty has an obligation to speak out against this repugnant attack on the First Amendment. Politicians who brush these threats aside are complicit in the worst kind of bigotry.”

Last week, Donald Trump was elected president despite receiving more than one million fewer votes than his opponent, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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