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#MuslimBan

On January 27, 2017, Trump signed an executive order that bans entrance to the US from seven Muslim majority countries. This was immediately referred to as a #MuslimBan because that was something he promised over and over again during his campaign. There is president as in 1952, the Supreme Court did give the president power to deny entry to the US if he has a reason to do so. It is an interesting law that came about during a time in America where Anti-Communism became a witch hunt. Specifically, it states: "Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate."

He is also not the first President to impose travel bans during times when he believes that a review of our vetting process is needed. A frequently quoted scenario was when President Obama placed a six-month ban while they revamped their vetting process. This ban was placed due to a very specific threat, where two attempted terrorists were halted in their malicious plans.

The issue with Trump's ban is that in his executive decision, the only event he refers to as the reason for the ban is 9/11. Since September 11th, proper vetting has been in place and revised several times. The seven countries that were chosen Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya. Strangely missing are Saudi Arabia, United Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon, all of which are the countries that the hijackers were from. During the signing, he also said that a "religious test" would be established that would give Christians priority over everyone else stating that refugees were unfairly turned away. So the question is, what is the new threat?

In early February in response to the immediate protests, a Federal Judge placed an injunction on Trump's travel restriction so that the courts could review the executive order on its merits. Trump's response was to call him a "so-called judge..." On February 9th, the 9th Circuit Court unanimously upheld the temporary restraining order. Trump's response was "SEE YOU IN COURT!!!" He threatened that any hostile events that occur would place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the court and not the current vetting process. Not to mention the various other Twitter rants he did which further show his blatant disregard for the US Judicial System and frankly was just unprofessional. During his press conference on February 16th, he berated not only the media, he also alluded to the suggestion that he is currently rewriting his executive order keeping the words and decision of the 9th Circuit Court in mind. He also lied and said that it was the most overturned court in the US, which is yet another provable lie. (This is a chapter in and of itself.)

I do look forward to reading his new executive order. However, I implore Trump to change his tactics. The biggest issue he has is that he is trying to single-handedly strong-arm the country into doing his bidding. That is not the job of the President. Being that I am not a politician, I cannot give him advice on how to be a better President. However, being a person, I can offer suggestions on how he can become a better leader. My biggest wish for him is to actually listen to people who have experience in the field. We do need to look at our vetting process. There is always a need to improve our process. What we do not need is a ban based on religious affiliation. A person's affiliation does not guarantee a person's moral and ethics.

According to research by Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, there have been ZERO deaths from nationals from the seven countries listed in Trumps Ban. Since the 1970s, only 20 foreign-born refugees, out of 3.25 MILLION have been convicted of attempting or causing harm to Americans.

https://www.cato.org/blog/guide-trumps-executive-order-limit-migration-national-security-reasons

This is a dangerous time when the president uses fear mongering to try to use absolute power and control over America. We need smart vetting, not hate to define the parameters of our vetting process.