Post #7 (5/22/17) Unit of Study: Public Policy

Trump Bans Refugees and Citizens of Seven Muslim Countries

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politics/trump-syrian-refugees.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Politics&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article

On January 24th, 2017 newly inaugurated President Donald Trump signed an executive order to put a 120 day ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim countries from entering the US. The countries are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen; the order will also ban Syrian refugees from entering America indefinitely. President Trump claims the order is solely for the purpose of protecting America and its citizens from "radical Islamic terrorist;" however, the 9/11 attackers were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Lebanon which do not appear on the President's banning list. Trump has also created a religious test for refugees coming from Muslim countries as he wants to allow Christians and other religious Middle Eastern minorities to have more priority than those associated with the Muslim religion. Many human rights activists have said that Trump's order is just a way to discriminate against a specific religion. This refugee ban has caused a lot of controversy within America as well as internationally.

Just within a week of his inauguration President Trump signed one of the most controversial executive orders which put a 120 day ban on refugees and citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen from entering the United States. The order had another layer where Syrian refugees were banned not only 120 days but for as long as the US saw fit. Despite the fact that Trump says this ban is for the safety of the American people from Islamic terrorists, the banned countries do not include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or Lebanon which are the home countries of the 9/11 attackers. The exclusion of these primary terrorist countries paired with the religious test Trump wants to put in place to ensure Christians and other Middle Eastern minorities are priority, strongly proves that Trump just wants to discriminate against Muslims. The religious test is not about making sure minorities get treated fairly; in fact the US accepted 37,521 Christian refugees in 2016 while 38,901 Muslim refugees were accepted which means the number of Christian refugees accepted are almost equal to Muslim refugees. These Middle Eastern refugees just want to seek out safety as their countries face terror and violence everyday. It is unconstitutional to refuse safety and care to those in desperate, life-threatening situations. Compassion is what helps heal hurt, not rejection. This relates to public policy in that Trump's order on immigration and the nation's safety affects the all the American public. Since public policies created around safety are some of the most important it does not seem right that Trump can sign an executive order on that type of policy.