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

Our weekly check-in with the Texas Truth-O-Meter.

By Alexandra HartJanuary 16, 2019 11:00 am,

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.