I was going to write about actress Mary Tyler Moore and the legacy that she left behind after passing away from pneumonia on Wednesday, January 25th. I was going to talk about how she paved the way for female leads on television and how her influence changed television for good. But something happened today that really made me angry. Something that I would never have imagined would happen during my lifetime.
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bar seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.
The countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lybia, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia are all on the list of being refused entry into the United States. That means that Syrian refugees looking to come to the States after escaping the Syrian War will have to turn back around. That means those who are escaping terrorism within their own countries will have to turn back around and suffer. Iran is already looking for a way to ban American citizens from entering its country.
This order was signed to "protect this country from foreign terrorist", which ironically this order was titled "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States". Also ironic, President Trump didn't ban the Muslim majority countries that he has business ties with. Funny right?
Just recently posted by the American Civil Liberties Union, a federal judge in New York granted the ACLU's request for a nationwide temporary injunction that will block the deportation of all people stranded in airports under Trump's Muslim ban.
Since then, Trump has released a statement that what he is doing is "the same that Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees of Iraq for six months". He also stated "this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This not about religion, this is about terror and keeping our country safe".
As much as his word may be taken for some Americans, while many continue to condemn the president for his recent actions.
When I learned of this news when I woke up this morning, I was furious. It baffled me that one man can have the power to deny a group of people entry in a country that thrives its message on freedom for everyone that walks through its doors.
I never knew that one day I would live in a time where one's religion would be the target of constant hatred and bigotry and would be seen as this fearful object that would cause harm to one's country.
Whatever happened to showing compassion for one another? Did all of that get thrown out the window when Trump went into office? Did we forget how to act like decent human beings?
Because what is being shown today is nothing short of history repeating itself. We are leading ourselves to a disaster just waiting to happen.
I hope those who voted for Trump are happy with this. I hope those who voted for Trump because "Hillary and her emails will ruin us all" are happy with the decision that they made. We're one step closer to having a wall built on our southern border, and we are already denying refugees looking to escape their troubles back to what will most likely be their graves.
I hope you can sleep at night knowing that you helped in all of this all in the name of "Making American Great Again".
