Opinion: Speak Out Against President Trump’s Refugee Ban
On Friday, Jan. 27, President Donald Trump banned natives in seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country. The ban prohibited the entrance from countries named “countries of concern” by the 2016 law concerning immigration visas. Natives from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen are unable to enter the United States for at least 90 days.
My heart sank when I heard about this policy. These people are being banned to protect the country from terrorist attacks. However, I feel like this ban has more to do with the irrational assumption that all Muslims are linked to terrorists or are assumed a terrorist themselves. As we saw throughout Trump’s campaign, he was a big advocate for labeling Muslims already inside the country. Trump’s reason was to protect the United States from the Muslims among us. The fact that he signed a policy to keep Muslims out over a stereotype that has been blown way out of proportion is extremely upsetting. The whole idea of this ban upsets me, but there is more to this policy that makes me very sad.
Within the last year we have seen the devastation that many individuals living in war-torn Syria are going through. I have shed many tears over some of the images that show everything that the innocents in this country are losing. Their homes are being destroyed and their families are torn apart. Many of them have lost their lives seeking shelter in other countries. Trump’s ban keeps these refugees from entering the United States. With a stroke of his pen he not only banned Muslims, he banned people who have already lost so much trying to find a safe place to live.
When I first moved to this country almost ten years ago, I heard all these stories about the American Dream. My own family came here seeking this very dream. We were fortunate enough to achieve many aspects of our dream. Even through his campaign Trump used the idea of “Making America Great Again.” I personally do not see how banning all these people seeking safety is putting us on a path towards greatness. It truly hurts me thinking of all the images, all the stories and all the news articles of all the loss. All the destruction that people in these war-torn countries have experienced. Now every time I see these news it pains me to know that we are not doing anything about it. We may not support all the violence, but we are definitely not doing anything to stop it.
A lot of changes are coming now that President Trump is in office. All I can say is that I will not remain quiet when I disagree in my heart with the decisions made. I may not be able to change it but I can at least show my support to those who are being harmed by these irrational decisions.
As I stated before I am against injustice. I am an Ally to anyone who feels afraid, anyone who feels out numbered. And I will not be silenced.