Abstract
The U.S. travel ban on Muslims was part of a historical pattern to curb immigration. In this paper, we take a historical-comparative approach to analyze two cases: The Chinese Exclusion Act and the Muslim Ban. We show how moral panics fueled by moral entrepreneurs led to immigration policies banning both groups and how historical events were important in the process. In the Chinese case, cultural stereotypes and competition with other immigrant groups led to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. In the Muslim case, 9/11 led moral entrepreneurs to associate all Muslims with terrorism, setting the stage for moral panic and the 2017 Muslim ban. While specific events differed, we find that the process of moral panic and the role of moral entrepreneurs were similar in both cases, as moral entrepreneurs played a similar role in both cases of fomenting fear and encouraging discrimination to further their personal and political ends.