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On\u00a0Friday, May 30<\/strong>, attorneys representing the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation\u2019s largest Muslim civil rights organization, and attorney Maria Kari of\u00a0<\/span>Project Taha<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>will take part in a preliminary injunction hearing in Chicago, Illinois, about their<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>lawsuit demanding that the U.S. Department of State compel the evacuation<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of Americans and their families trapped in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n WHEN<\/strong>: Friday, May 30, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n WHERE<\/strong>: <\/span><\/p>\n Hearing<\/span><\/span> – Everett McKinley Dirksen US Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL 60604<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Press Conference<\/strong><\/span><\/span>: CAIR-Chicago’s Azima Center, 17 N State St., Suite 1500, Chicago, IL 60602<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n CONTACT<\/strong>: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, 202-870-0166,\u00a0<\/span>arehab@cair.com<\/span><\/a>; Hafsa Haider, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509;\u00a0<\/span>hhaider@cair.com<\/span><\/a>; Maria Kari,\u00a0<\/span>info@mariakari.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n In a statement, attorney Maria Kari of Project Taha:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe State Department\u2019s refusal to act is not just negligence. It is complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people, which includes Palestinian-Americans. We will not allow this betrayal to go unchallenged. Friday\u2019s hearing is about holding the U.S. government accountable for abandoning its constitutional\u00a0duty to Americans and endangering American families. We are asking the court to act where the executive branch has refused.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Earlier this month, CAIR and Project TAHA\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/a>secured the evacuation of American citizens Khalid Mourtaga and Mariam Harara<\/span><\/span><\/a>,<\/span> who returned to the United States after surviving nineteen months of aerial bombardment, multiple forced displacements, and prolonged starvation in Gaza.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Their safe return came only after the filing of a lawsuit and delivery of an urgent\u00a0letter to the State Department to compel the evacuation of Americans and their families.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n SEE:\u00a0Motion for Preliminary Injunction\u00a0Filed in March 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n SEE:\u00a0CAIR, Law Office of Maria Kari Lawsuit Against President Biden and Anthony Blinken<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n BACKGROUNDER<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n Since October 2023, the State Department has approved the evacuation of multiple Americans and their families from Gaza. However, the lack of logistical support, diplomatic engagement, and failure to secure safe passage resulted in an incomplete evacuation process with Americans and their immediate relatives still stranded in one of the most dangerous places on earth.<\/span><\/p>\n Among those still awaiting evacuation is\u00a0Salsabeel Elhelou,\u00a0an American citizen, who is being forced to choose between safety and separation from her three minor children, who are not US citizens but were previously approved for evacuation by the US government. The State Department now refuses to evacuate Salsabeel\u2019s children. Other clients either continue to await evacuation directives from the US embassy or have been given the impossible decision of leaving family members, including spouses and parents, behind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n SEE:\u00a0CAIR\u00a0Letter Calling on\u00a0US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Evacuate Americans from Gaza<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n END<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n CONTACT<\/strong>: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530,\u00a0<\/span>e-Mitchell@cair.com<\/span><\/a>; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448,\u00a0<\/span>rmccaw@cair.com<\/span><\/a>; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726,\u00a0<\/span>ihooper@cair.com<\/span><\/a>; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280,\u00a0<\/span>iallison@cair.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n