“Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victim of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad”. This was one of the many statements Trump made during his campaign when he first started to use certain racist language towards Muslims. Now, his promises are a reality as he recently passed his executive order halting Muslim immigration in the US.
However, what does this order exactly imply? The order primarily targets Muslim immigrants especially those coming from these seven countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen as anyone coming from these countries will face a 90-day visa suspension. Everyone coming from these countries will be affected, even the ones with dual nationalities, and only some special types of people like diplomats will be allowed in. Furthermore, there is an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees (even Christians coming from Syria) and the order also suspends several programmes such as the US Refugee Admissions Programme for 120 days and the Visa Interview Waiver Programme, which helped renew immigrants’ temporary visas. Finally, the order limits the total number of refugees that can be accepted in the US: 50,000 (a very low figure compared to the 110,000 refugees limit during Obama’s administration).
The order has sparked many protests not only in the US but also in many other countries. Countless amounts of celebrities, politicians and citizens all over the world are complaining and showing their dissatisfaction with what they claim as an illegal, racist order. This is because they argue that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 made amendments to ban the widespread discrimination against immigrants on the basis of national origin, replacing the old prejudicial system. As the presidents could still find loopholes to pass executive orders against immigrants using a 1952 Act, Congress had to make the wording stricter as they had to specify that no person could be discriminated against because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence.
These should be enough legal reasons to prevent Trump from enforcing his order, but instead there have already been cases that suggest the contrary such as the example of a Scottish student traveling with an Iranian passport who was not permitted to do a layover in the US. Despite the fact that the legality of Trump’s order won’t be completely clear until it faces more hearings in federal courts, these actions and previous occasions might seem to suggest that Trump could actually get away with this ban. This is because Trump has not been the first President to pass an order banning immigrants. There have actually been plenty of events with similar characteristics in the past.
Before 1965 there had been a ban on Asians more specifically the Chinese in the late 1880s. Subsequently there was a ban Jewish refugees during World War II and later towards Communists in the 1950s. After that, Nixon issued an executive order in 1972 where he authorised restrictions on entry for Arab countries and made it even more difficult for Arabs to apply for permanent resident status. In addition, following the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days at the US embassy in Teheran, American President Jimmy Carter cut diplomatic relations with and imposed sanctions on Iran. He also banned Iranians from entering the country. Thus, these examples suggest that it is possible for presidents to not adhere to Congress Acts, painting a very bleak picture as the Muslim ban could last for some time.
The responses from the population have been enormous. There have been protests, Tweets and signs of encouragement and tolerance towards Muslims. For instance, many actors at the recent SAG awards supported refugees and immigrants. Canada’s PM also said that all refugees were welcomed into Canada and similarly Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky offered free accommodation to all of those affected. Several members of the UN and from other governments have also rejected this policy creating great tension as many claim that this policy could actually make America less safe and make the defeat of ISIS harder. As Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee states “If they were going to impose a visa ban on terrorists, they had to do so with the citizens of Saudi Arabia and some other countries that have had a role in the 9/11 attack,” he said. As a result, this could not only be detrimental for US business and relations but similar catastrophic events could be triggered around the world.
The day after the election when we finally knew Trump was going to be the 45th president of the USA, I was initially a bit worried but decided I would give him a chance and not judge him because he hadn’t done anything too bad yet. However, in his first 10 days as the US president he has already alienated himself and the US against many countries and has passed several orders that should not be allowed nowadays in a modern world. Furthermore, as the image shows there is a terrible misconception about America’s safety as in America it is more likely to be killed by a cow and not by a refugee so I agree with Hossein Naqavi Hosseini. For a country that was mainly built and founded as a result of settlers and immigrants, I find it ironic and quite upsetting to prohibit the entry to people who can contribute to America’s greatness everyday no matter the colour of their skin, nationality or religion. Therefore, I refuse to believe in the negative connotations of the word “immigrant” as for me, America is great for all the people living in it, not in spite of them.
Sources
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/middle-eastern-and-north-african-immigrants-united-states
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/06/a-new-estimate-of-the-u-s-muslim-population/
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/donald-trump-calls-halt-muslims-entering-151207220200817.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38781302
http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/351-arab-immigrants.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/opinion/trumps-immigration-ban-is-illegal.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/01/times-banned-immigrants-170128183528941.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/38787374
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2017/01/29/trump-muslim-ban/#4502999f6c6f