Let me start by saying I am in no way trying to attack President Trump. I have made it clear in previous articles that I did not vote for either Trump or Clinton. My perspective comes from my opinions about their policies and what politicians say and, more importantly, do with their power.
This week a lot of questions have been raised regarding the legality of President Trump’s immigration ban. Trump has backed his executive order by saying it is a matter of national security. Attempting to write an article about the constitutionality of the executive order, or what is currently being done to appeal it, is almost impossible, especially since recently a federal judge out of Washington state has blocked Trump’s ban.
Beyond the fray, if you take away all the legal craziness surrounding the “Muslim-ban,” it becomes an issue of peoples’ definitions of right and wrong.
I can see why people are affected by Trump’s rhetoric. No one wants terrorism to come to our country. We have all witnessed the horrific actions of terrorists against America. We have lived through 9/11, San Bernadino, the Boston Marathon bombings, and more. America has every reason to be afraid of terrorism. This ban only shows that the American government has lost the ability to be compassionate and empathetic toward real people and especially toward refugees, however.
No refugee has ever committed a terrorist act on American soil. Refugees are those fleeing from the horrors of their country. Very few people flee their country ‘just because.’ These people are fleeing from war, death, and persecution, which, from a historical perspective, are the very same reasons America exists today. America was founded by refugees and immigrants. Instead of using the terms ‘refugees’ and ‘immigrants,’ we should look deeper to see all the individuals that compose these groups. I would argue a lot of the people that agree with this ban have never met a refugee nor heard their story in person. They also probably ignore America’s history.
Aside from Native Americans, every modern-day American comes from an immigrant family. But somehow, we have openly forgotten this. We have forgotten America was founded on violence from our ancestors. We have forgotten how far we have come from such a dark history. The idea of the American Dream once made this country the greatest on earth. Now, it’s lost in global politics.
I find the lack of empathy many of us have embraced this past year to be devastating. These people that are affected by Trump’s ban are REAL people. They are mothers, fathers, sisters, sons, cousins; people that all of us have in our own lives. They are loved. They love others. They have real feelings. They have real problems. They have real pain. They bleed the same as us. When someone they love hurts, they hurt. Yet, ‘ban supporters’ treats them as if they are an item to return to a store. Why? Have we really gotten to a place where we don’t see people as real? Have we let fear take over what we are willing to let happen to peoples’ families?
What I have found through reading about Trump’s ban, and what people have to say about it, scares me more than the justifications of this executive order. In no way am I saying I’m not afraid of terrorism. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be doing something to strengthen our national security. What I’m saying is this ‘ban’ is doing more harm than good. It is destroying peoples’ lives. I would go as far to argue this ban is hurting our national security rather than helping.
We are actively hating certain groups of people. We are sending them back to places of war we are trying to protect our country from. We are giving ISIS propaganda against America. We are teaching our children a religion is a reason to hate someone. We are showing the world America no longer welcomes diversity, but sends it away. We are saying we don’t care about innocent lives. Where are we going to draw the line? What scares me is that U.S. citizens are slowly losing empathy.
When researching this issue, I challenge you to look to what is engraved on our nation’s symbol, The Statue of Liberty, and ask yourself if this ban affected someone you love- would you support you?
If you are in doubt about America’s original mission, recall the lines: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Anonymous • Feb 10, 2017 at 7:49 am
Well written article. I have a different opinion though. I support the “Muslim-ban” as the left likes to call it. I would like to believe my reasons have nothing to do with losing the ability to be compassionate and empathetic and everything to do with the safety and security of the United States. I don’t believe that we have to wait on an attack to happen to take action. I would rather be proactive than reactive. If you watch BBC, Al Jazeera or any other news source outside the U.S. you can really see the effects that unvetted refugees are having all throughout Europe. I have no problem with taking in legal immigrants and refugees that have been vetted properly. The difference is the seven countries that are on the list are countries that are either labeled “countries of concern” (ineligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program) and/or are considered a state sponsor of terrorism. So in other words even if we wanted to do proper background checks on people from most of these countries, there is nothing in place, no database or tracking process to actually tell us if these people are actually good or not. There are lots of problems with the vetting of individuals from these countries that both Democrats and Republicans recognize.
So with that being said, I do feel sorry with the situation these people are going through and I want to help as much as possible. However, I think about security first. You can insert feelings and emotions into any law or process and turn it so say people are heartless or don’t care about other lives. Or that it’s racist and a “Muslim-ban” despite the fact that it does not apply to citizens of the six countries with the largest Muslim populations. I think it is quite the opposite, we do show the world America welcomes diversity. We take in tons of immigrants from around the world. So do I think that a 90 day hold (freeze) on processing people from those countries is that bad? No. I think it’s actually a very smart move. All President Trump wants to do is stop things for a few months while we take to look at who is coming in from those areas and ensure that we don’t end up in the same situation as Europe. It was also no surprise to me when I heard since this is what he promised to do on the campaign trail. Imagine that, a president that has actually followed up on the things that he promised while campaigning.
Just a little advice if I may – If you haven’t already, I would add a few conservative news sites and the POTUS to your news feed. Maybe do an article on the positive things you are seeing from his changes. You might be amazed at how close the rights views, the POTUS and yours actually align. I am only saying this based on a lot of the things I’ve seen in your articles are straight in line with that of the lefts media coverage. Both sides suck in different aspects and are just as equally corrupt and bias. Keep up the great work!
Anonymous • Feb 10, 2017 at 7:49 am
Well written article. I have a different opinion though. I support the “Muslim-ban” as the left likes to call it. I would like to believe my reasons have nothing to do with losing the ability to be compassionate and empathetic and everything to do with the safety and security of the United States. I don’t believe that we have to wait on an attack to happen to take action. I would rather be proactive than reactive. If you watch BBC, Al Jazeera or any other news source outside the U.S. you can really see the effects that unvetted refugees are having all throughout Europe. I have no problem with taking in legal immigrants and refugees that have been vetted properly. The difference is the seven countries that are on the list are countries that are either labeled “countries of concern” (ineligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program) and/or are considered a state sponsor of terrorism. So in other words even if we wanted to do proper background checks on people from most of these countries, there is nothing in place, no database or tracking process to actually tell us if these people are actually good or not. There are lots of problems with the vetting of individuals from these countries that both Democrats and Republicans recognize.
So with that being said, I do feel sorry with the situation these people are going through and I want to help as much as possible. However, I think about security first. You can insert feelings and emotions into any law or process and turn it so say people are heartless or don’t care about other lives. Or that it’s racist and a “Muslim-ban” despite the fact that it does not apply to citizens of the six countries with the largest Muslim populations. I think it is quite the opposite, we do show the world America welcomes diversity. We take in tons of immigrants from around the world. So do I think that a 90 day hold (freeze) on processing people from those countries is that bad? No. I think it’s actually a very smart move. All President Trump wants to do is stop things for a few months while we take to look at who is coming in from those areas and ensure that we don’t end up in the same situation as Europe. It was also no surprise to me when I heard since this is what he promised to do on the campaign trail. Imagine that, a president that has actually followed up on the things that he promised while campaigning.
Just a little advice if I may – If you haven’t already, I would add a few conservative news sites and the POTUS to your news feed. Maybe do an article on the positive things you are seeing from his changes. You might be amazed at how close the rights views, the POTUS and yours actually align. I am only saying this based on a lot of the things I’ve seen in your articles are straight in line with that of the lefts media coverage. Both sides suck in different aspects and are just as equally corrupt and bias. Keep up the great work!