But at our dinner table, when we discuss the news of the day, we do not feel included as part of Trump’s America.
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But, as Gerald Neuman – law professor and co-director of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School – points out, that’s just one piece of the puzzle.
– Late Friday night, some of President Donald Trump’s top advisers huddled on the phone to craft a response to a court ruling that blocked the White House’s refugee and immigration ban. It’s sad that people still believe a person’s skin colour makes them inferior, or that their religious beliefs and nationality make them a threat. But this is nonsense. The Kuwaiti government has told would-be migrants from the five banned nations to not apply for visas, as it is anxious about the possible migration of radical Islamic terrorists.
In particular, the order seems to fly in the face of the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees which updated the post-World War II Refugee Convention of 1951, and other global human rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin. And suggesting that Trump should ban those countries too only encourages broadening the Muslim ban, not ending it. Prioritizing Christians is not only politically divisive, but at odds with the central teachings of all of the world’s major religions, as well as the U.S. Constitution.
The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation says the order will “only serve to embolden the radical narratives of extremists” and fuel terrorism.
“I pray that the recent happenings that may seem so disheartening and scary to so many of us actually serve as a means for us to unite”, one woman said.
The Obama administration’s wars were often justified through the demonization and dehumanization of Muslims. Not really, say experts. More than 3,500 religious leaders have signed a letter to President Trump opposing any policy change that would prevent “individuals who practice Islam and other faiths from accessing the USA refugee resettlement program”. But this is not an accurate depiction of Obama’s 2011 action. It was as if the events of Friday, the innocent people detained at United States airports for hours, the crowds supporting them, the outcry and outrage around the world had just not happened. Instead of the hoped-for collaborative new relationship between the president and Congress to advance conservative policies, Trump chose to go-it-alone, dashing off executive orders without warning.
It created global confusion, as people were left to wonder whether they would be affected by Trump’s travel ban, if they would be allowed into the USA, if they would be allowed to return should they leave the country, and how this would affect family members still in those countries.
About 85,000 refugees were admitted to the U.S.in 2016, according to the Department of State’s Refugee Processing Center. He writes that the measure was taken after two Iraqi refugees were arrested in Kentucky under terrorism-related charges (they remain the only two to be arrested for this reason).
The question of constitutional protections – or not – for refugees, immigrants, lawful residents, and visitors, including college and university students and faculty and engineers and entrepreneurs, will be answered soon by federal courts across America. “If those people were to leave US soil and try to return, the visas would no longer be valid”. “Their resettlement will not only be delayed for 4 months, but given the complex multi-step process of resettlement, the resulting delays will be much longer”.
“Regardless of where you stand on the merits of President Trump’s executive orders on immigration, it is clear that New Jersey constituents are significantly impacted by the implications of this decision”, Watson Coleman wrote to her colleagues on Wednesday.
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Some Republican lawmakers criticized Trump’s order and said it could backfire by giving terrorist organizations a new recruitment message.
