Let's try a thought experiment. Imagine that you find the job of your dreams, but it's in another country. You decide to make the move, so you pay the appropriate fees, fill out the paperwork, provide documentation, submit fingerprints, and interview with the country's consulate so you can receive a work visa. After waiting months, if not longer, for approval, you finally get word that your visa has been granted. But, just days before you are scheduled to move, you receive word that the leader of the country you are moving to has decided that Americans are dangerous because there are more mass shootings in the US than any other country in the world. As a result, the leader has decided that no one from the United States can enter the country, even though you do not have any homicidal tendencies.
How would you feel if this happened to you? I know how I would feel--I would be beyond angry. Sadly, this very thing is happening, right now, in the United States. Trump signed an executive order on Friday afternoon that banned people from 7 Middle Eastern countries from entering the country. These are not people who were attempting to enter the US illegally--they are people who jumped through the necessary hoops and were given approval to enter the country. To make the situation more disturbing, some of these immigrants/refugees traveled to the US today and are currently being detained indefinitely in airports across the country--people who did absolutely nothing wrong.
(Curiously, as DT was signing the order, he "invoked the specter of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Most of the 19 hijackers on the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa., were from Saudi Arabia. The rest were from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon. None of those countries are on Mr. Trump’s visa ban list." It's disturbing that the POTUS did not seem to realize that the 9/11 attackers were not from countries on the order he was signing. It is also confounding that, coincidentally, the residents from countries in which he has business interests--such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt--are not banned from entering the US. I guess it would make it difficult for Trump to make money from those countries if his business partners there can't fly into the US to meet with his family members--the people who are reportedly holding his assets in a "blind" trust.
Here is why I believe this executive order is a textbook case of "shooting off your nose to spite your face". (And I know the phrase is "cutting off your nose...", but shooting seems more apropos in this context. Shooting, versus cutting, off your nose would result in much more damage.):
1) College students, scientists, doctors, professors, etc. who could help improve the lives of many Americans are being kept out of our country and, therefore, stifling our country's growth.
2) There are thousands of people from some of the banned countries who served as interpreters for US troops and are still waiting for the visas that they were promised in return for their services. This order would prevent them from receiving the visas they rightfully deserve. This is not only morally wrong, it also puts our troops at additional risk because it will be, "harder to recruit local support in war zones, a belief echoed by several advocacy groups working on behalf of America's Iraqi employees."
4) Iran has already started to limit the movement of US citizens into its country and it appears that other countries (e.g., Sudan) may continue with this trend if Trump does not lift this ban. If multiple countries ban the entry of Americans, the economic and social impacts could be incalculable.
5) Our country's refusal to accept refugees who have been legally and thoroughly vetted goes completely against the principles on which our country was founded. We are a country of immigrants.
And on that note, I leave you with photos of some Syrian people who can no longer seek refuge in the United States. And I would be remiss if I did not note that many of my ancestors made the dangerous voyage to the US in the 1600s to seek refuge from social and religious oppression. How times have changed. I believe that my forefathers/mothers would be very disappointed in the country we have become. (Please scroll to the bottom for an update on this situation.)
Update 8:40 PM CST: MSNBC is reporting that a federal judge in New York has issued an injunction against DT's executive order. Any immigrant/refugee who is currently being detained at an airport cannot be forced out of the country. In addition, anyone who has received a visa or is otherwise legally authorized to enter the United States can still travel to the US. However, those in the 7 targeted countries--including those who served as interpreters for American troops--cannot apply for a visa, at least until the order is adjudicated in February. If the order is upheld, they will not be able to apply for visas, regardless of their service to the American government or need for refuge.
