In the last 3 days, CAIR-Philadelphia has received numerous email and calls from people reporting that they had received an unsolicited “robocall” (pre-recorded message) asking if they “identified as Muslim” and if yes, to press #1 on their phones.
Many of the people reporting these calls were quite upset and fearful at receiving them. Given the current anti-Muslim climate in the country, CAIR decided the best course of action to protect the Muslim community was an “Action Alert” warning people to hang up on these calls and not to press any keys.
After further investigation overnight, our office discovered that these robocalls originated from another Muslim community organization called EMERGE USA.
Although there was no threat intended in the calls many of you received in the last few days, we still urge, especially in these times, caution and vigilance when responding to questions about one’s faith, and we commend those who took the time to call our office to report the calls.
STATEMENT OF EMERGE USA ON THE ROBOCALLS:
EmergeUSA is conducting a series of post-election polls in various markets across the country. The poll was scripted over a month ago prior to the election. It is a regular process for EmergeUSA to run polling before and after elections.
One of the questions the poll asks is if the participant identifies themselves as Muslim as that is the targeted demographic for this particular survey.
It was not anticipated that the poll would roll out at the same time as a so-called “Muslim Registry” was being proposed by President-Elect Trump. We apologize for any confusion or concern this may have caused.
As soon as concerns were raised, the poll was suspended and the script was adjusted to make it clear that a Muslim organization was conducting the poll. It is a normal process of our nonprofit activities in order to better serve the American Muslim community and America at large with valuable data.
Emerge USA is a 501c(4) that seeks to engage, educate and empower Muslim, South Asian and Arab American (MASA) communities through educational events, voter initiatives, and leadership development for the purpose of creating a community of equitable, knowledgeable and motivated citizens.
