FACT CHECK: Did Donald Trump Re-Sign A 1952 Law Making ‘Muslamic Law’ Illegal?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An article shared on Facebook claims President Donald Trump re-signed a 1952 law making “Muslamic law” illegal.

Facebook/Screenshot

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

There is no evidence that Trump re-signed such a law. The article was originally published on a satire website.

Fact Check: 

The internet is replete with misinformation about politicians, with this particular post alleging Trump made many “Muslamic laws” illegal. (RELATED: ‘Down With The USA’ – Meme Purportedly Shows Anti-American Protesters In Michigan)

The post links to an article, which put up the headline “President Trump Re-Signs 1952 Law Making Muslamic Law Illegal Again,” that was published on the website USA News earlier this month. It claims Trump recently “re-signed Senator McCarthy’s landmark law making any kind of Muslamic law illegal in the United States.”

That appears to be a reference to the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act. Also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, the law “upheld the national origins quota system established by the Immigration Act of 1924,” according to the Office of the Historian at the State Department. Some social media users have also falsely claimed the act banned Muslims from coming to America or running for public office, but the words “Islam” and “Muslim” never appear in the act’s text.

Had Trump re-signed legislation to make “Muslamic law” illegal, it would have been picked up by major news outlets, yet none have reported on it, and there is no record of such a law in the Library of Congress.

The article appears to have copied nearly word-for-word from an article on Bustatroll.org, a parody news website that describes itself as part of a network that publishes “parody, satire, and tomfoolery.” Yet, while Bustatroll’s article clearly disclaims the satirical nature of its content, the USA News article does not, portraying it as real.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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