Donald Trump has only been in office for about a week, but it's been a pretty busy one, to say the least. He's signed multiple executive orders in that time, and one of the newer ones was signed on Friday. Here's what it does:
Bans Citizens of Seven Countries
The order bans all people from the countries of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen from entering the United States, as these countries were named as "countries of concern." Seven may seem like a small number, but it's actually banning at least 134 million people, according to Census data. The order also wants to conduct a 30-day review to determine which countries do not provide "adequate information" for its citizens to be issued visas to enter the United States.
This is all to fight the terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. According to the New York Times, out of the 19 hijackers on the planes, most were from Saudi Arabia. The others were from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon. Note that none of those countries are on the ban list.
Suspends the Refugee Program
Yes, you read that correctly. President Trump stopped the admission of refugees for four months. The secretary of state will review the application/screening process in the meantime, despite it already being a very long process to begin with, as it can take at least two years for refugees to be admitted into the United States. Trump has also reduced the number of refugees who could be allowed in the United States from the 110,000 set by Barack Obama to 50,000.
In order for refugees to be prioritized for entry, they would have to claim religious persecution "provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual's country of nationality." This means that any Christian refugee from a Muslim-majority country has the chance of being allowed into the United States, while Muslim refugees will be turned away.
In addition, the order also calls for new screening processes to be developed by the secretary of state and homeland security, as well as the directors of national intelligence and the FBI.
Bans Syrian Refugees
I saved this one for last, because to me, it's the most important. In Section 5, point C of the new order, Trump "hereby proclaim[s] that the entry of nationals of Syria as refugees is detrimental to the interests of the United States and thus suspend any such entry until such time as I have determined that sufficient changes have been made to the USRAP to ensure that admission of Syrian refugees is consistent with the national interest."
This means that all Syrian refugees will be denied entry into the United States. Many people agree with this and believe that the United States should not get involved in their civil war, but I could not disagree more.
Of course, I don't want our country to go to war. But these people are not fleeing their country by choice, or because they just feel like coming to America. They are fleeing because they are being persecuted and brutally murdered by their government just because they can. They are fleeing because their homes and towns were destroyed and their family and friends were killed in front of them, and they have nowhere else to go.
It's hard to try and empathize, because none of us will ever experience anything as cruel and inhumane like that in our lives. Obviously, the United States has it's own problems with targeting people of color, but that's another article for another time. The point is that our government is not dropping bombs filled with poisonous gas on us as we sleep. We are lucky.
We are here today because a group of people decided they wanted to practice the religion they wanted to practice, and left to find a better place. Our nation was founded on immigrants who came to be free and live the way they wanted to live.
To turn our backs on people who need help is wrong—plain and simple. Some say it isn't as black and white as that, but it really is. What is the Statue of Liberty here for if not to welcome those who need a new home or a place to start over?
Reading this new executive order sickened me and brought tears to my eyes. I can only hope that we find it in our hearts to recognize that these refugees are people just like us, and denying them help is the same as leaving them to die.
