A pair of Texas conservatives is launching a new House caucus aimed at pushing back against what they describe as the spread of Sharia law in the United States.
Reps. Keith Self and Chip Roy, both Republicans from Texas, are forming the “Sharia Free America Caucus,” Fox News Digital reported.
“Anytime you go to a fight, you bring as many friends with you as you can. I’m a military guy,” Self said. “So what we need to do is build this caucus now so that we can start educating the American people to the dangers of Sharia in the United States.”
Self said Sharia is “fundamentally incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.”
The group is also expected to have backing in the Senate from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., whom Self said could help advance its goals in both chambers.
Among the proposals the caucus plans to push are legislation barring foreign nationals who “adhere to Sharia” from entering the U.S. and a measure to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
“America is facing a threat that directly attacks our Constitution and our Western values: the spread of Sharia law,” Roy said in a statement. “From Texas to every state in this constitutional republic, instances of Sharia adherents masquerading as ‘refugees’ and in many cases, sleeper cells connected to terrorist organizations, are threatening the American way of life.”
Sharia broadly refers to a system of religious principles followed by devout Muslims. In practice, Sharia law often describes the legal codes enforced in non-secular Islamic countries, including Iran.
In its most extreme applications, such as under ISIS control in parts of the Middle East, offenses like blasphemy have carried the death penalty.
While the U.S. Constitution guarantees religious freedom and prevents any religious legal system from being enforced at the government level, Self and Roy argue the ideology itself poses a growing cultural and security concern.
The caucus is largely symbolic at this stage, but reflects the broader culture battle playing out in Washington.
Self pointed to countries such as the United Kingdom and France, where clashes involving Muslim migrants and local populations have fueled unrest and political backlash in recent years.
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