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Muslims in Tennessee are responding to Republican Congressman Andy Ogles' call for a ban on immigration from mostly Muslim countries. And some expressed fear after Ogles said, quote, "Muslims don't belong in American society." Marianna Bacallao from member station WPLN reports.
MARIANNA BACALLAO, BYLINE: Congressman Andy Ogles plans to introduce legislation to block immigration from Muslim-majority countries. Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council, says that, like many ideas from her congressman, this one may not go anywhere.
SABINA MOHYUDDIN: This is a distraction, but it is a dangerous distraction.
BACALLAO: Because, she says, Islamophobia is already on the rise, and comments like those Ogles made on social media can have ripple effects.
MOHYUDDIN: Bullying in schools, discrimination, vandalism. And so we are now having to brace ourself what will happen next.
BACALLAO: Ogles didn't respond to multiple requests for comment. The congressman first won his seat four years ago after Democratic-leaning Nashville was split into three different districts. His slice of Nashville includes its immigrant corridor, where a majority of the city's more than 40,000 Muslims live.
MOHYUDDIN: Now, what have you done for our district? And have you gone in and met people in your district, including the Muslim community?
BACALLAO: Ogles met with members of Nashville's Kurdish community before becoming a congressman. Tabeer Taabur, president of the Tennessee Kurdish Community Council, even invited Ogles to Kurdish New Year celebrations later this month. Nowruz is also known as the Persian New Year.
TABEER TAABUR: And now we're very hesitant if we're going to, you know, invite Andy Ogles into our event after these remarks.
BACALLAO: Kurdish Americans have historical ties to the Republican Party, since both Bush presidencies allied with the Kurds during their respective U.S. wars in Iraq. While most Kurds are Muslim, many are also Christian or Yazidi. That's why, Taabur says, religious freedom is important.
TAABUR: This is the greatest country in the world, the United State is, you know? It's a melting pot, so diverse, amount of people from - came from everywhere, different beliefs. America is beautiful for the way it's been - for the way it is, you know?
BACALLAO: Taabur would still like to have a working relationship with Ogles, since he represents a large portion of Nashville's Kurdish community. But, he says, not everyone feels the same.
For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacallao in Nashville.
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