Is There Really A 1952 Act That Bans Muslims From Holding Public Office In The US?

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from Minnesota was recently elected during the November midterms.

As the first two Muslim women in Congress begin their tenures, someone recently posted on Facebook that a 1952 U.S. immigration law bans Muslims from holding public office. Is that a fact?

Gardner Selby of the PolitiFact Texas fact-checking team has the answer. He says that the women – one from Michigan and one from Minnesota – were recently elected to Congress during the midterms, and they’re joining one Muslim Congressman who was re-elected in November.

Selby says the Facebook poster cites the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 as the source of the alleged Muslim ban. He says they wrote on Jan. 6 that the Act “‘bans Muslims from holding public office in the United States.’ And this person added, ‘Facebook jail, here I come!'”

Hear how the Facebook poster’s claim scored in the player above.

Written by Caroline Covington.