From Jan. 26 to March 16 of this year, Trump issued an executive order titled, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” This executive order limited the entry of refugees and immigrants for 120 days and banned Syrian refugees indefinitely. People from Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Iran and Iraq were refused admission into the country for a temporary period of 90 days. This order was ultimately blocked by the federal courts but still caused upheaval and revolts in airports around the country.
After March 16, a second executive order was issued that continued the 90 day ban on immigrants from these countries, with the exception of Iraq. Syrian refugees were exempted for 120 days, instead of indefinitely, in an attempt to ease the criticisms and reactions to the ban. It was a watered down version of the first executive order that did nothing to better the attitudes of some conservatives.
Trump’s second executive order came to an end and the administration created a new one with greater restrictions. Now, Trump’s administration imposes that those residents from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Chad, Venezuela and North Korea are indefinitely restricted from entering the United States.
The Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin blocked Trump’s order saying, “This is the third time Hawaii has gone to court to stop President Trump from issuing a travel ban that discriminates against people based on their nation of origin or religion.”
In all these executive orders, the administration uses language that implies a focus on Muslim discrimination, while Trump and his officials disagree with these claims. Since the countries chosen are predominantly Muslim, it is insane for the administration to deny any direct restriction of a specific religion. Trump then said in an interview that the Christian minority in the countries included in the executive order would be given preferential treatment for the admission into the United States, while at the same time refusing entry for all Syrians, contradicting his earlier statement.
From all the countries targeted in the first executive order, no residents coming from those countries caused a deadly terrorist attack post 9/11 in the U.S., even though Trump claims otherwise. There is also no adequate evidence released by the White House that entry by those from the specified countries would harm U.S. interests.
These false attacks on the listed countries and the targeting of Muslims allows a deep, hateful rhetoric toward Muslims to persist from those who believe Trump and his administration. Trump is allowing people to wrongfully believe that Islamophobia is permissible and justified. Some can argue that Trump is not directly attacking Muslims, but as Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, states,
“Six of President Trump’s targeted countries are Muslim. The fact that Trump added North Korea — with few visitors to the U.S. — and a few government officials from Venezuela doesn’t obfuscate the real fact that the administration’s order is still a Muslim ban.”
The indisputable actuality that Trump directly said there would be preferential treatment for Christians negates any advocacy for the travel bans not directly attacking Muslims. Conservatives and Trump supporters now believe there is truth in their thoughts against Islam. The United States government has allowed the president to largely discriminate against an entire religion, which defies the foundational beliefs of this country.
