On the seventh day of Donald Trump’s presidency, an executive order was signed to keep refugees out of the United States due to “extreme vetting” of immigrants. On Friday, Jan. 27, Trump released the news of “protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.” To which caused those flying in from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia to be stuck in the airport for hours. Soon after the order was announced, many groups of protesters across the country demanded freedom of those trapped in the terminals; even here at the San Diego International Airport. Trump maintains that the executive order was meant for “vetting radical Islamic terrorists outside of the United States of America,” stating that those countries will be able to re-enter when members of his cabinet can clear them as safe to welcome. The order keeps refugees out for 90 days and suspending the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days.
Of course, let’s cut Trump some slack (don’t click out of this article just yet.) He’s the President of the most powerful country in the world. He has more pressure on his shoulders than probably anyone else in America, and let’s just say that he has good intentions regardless of how controversial they can be. Maybe he really is trying to help the country by the extreme measures he’s trying to enact. But a “Muslim Ban” is simply something that many cannot wrap their heads around. There are families that are in and out of the States annually, and that could have easily been someone’s parent or child stuck at the terminal trying to return to the country they call home. Let’s just say that this executive order isn’t only something some are trying to understand, but something they are also trying to not take personally.
Grasping the “Muslim Ban” is challenging enough, but there is also no legitimate proof of any refugees being correlated with terrorists acts. CNN reported that Trump’s biggest mistake with banning refugees is that there has never been any evidence that ties Syrian refugees with jihadists terrorists. They say that of the “tiny” 0.2 percent of Syrian refugees the U.S. takes in, the majority are women and children. Furthermore, the vetting process that was already established was very stringent.
With this, let’s see it from a different standpoint. What if I was born in the United States and all I heard of the Middle East was of the wars and jihadists. I, too, would result in being biased towards that side of the world since it’s all I have ever heard. Though let’s not forget that jihadists make up for a very small percentage of the Middle East, around .006625% actually. Which amounts to 106,000 individuals out of 1.6 billion Muslims in the world according to a recent Pew Research Center report. That’s why the protests were more than just another thing to boycott against Trump. It brought together many; celebrities, politicians, anyone who believed that this was a wrong act. Regardless of your political position, ask yourself how you would feel if your family was stuck in the airport for hours for no factual reason.
