Islamophobe, Rejected

The United Nations’ migration agency has rejected super public Islamophobe and Trump-backed nominee for director general, Ken Isaacs.

For only the second time in almost 70 years, the director general of the International Organization for Migration will not be an American candidate. The position has instead been filled by Portugal’s socialist politician Antonio Vitorino.

Isaacs was posting Islamophobic content on social media as recently as May 2017, when he shared the notable quote, “Muslims fast, they also blast.” In May 2016, he recommended that Austria and Switzerland build a wall in the Alps to keep refugees from crossing borders. He also happens to be a climate change denier and conspiracy theorist. He is, in other words, exactly the kind of candidate this administration would nominate for the role.

The migration agency’s decision to reject the American candidate for a historically U.S.-controlled position comes in the context of the Trump administration’s travel ban, family separation policies, and the many, many bigoted comments issued by the President himself. This decision might be seen as a response to the Trump administration’s recent withdrawal from multiple major international organizations. (In past months, the U.S. has withdrawn from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.) On the other hand, it could be a direct response to any of the very public bigotries exemplified by this administration, both in policy and rhetoric.