According to the Stanford Law Review, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that temporarily bans non-U.S. citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days. These countries include Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. It also suspends admissions for refugees for 120 days and blocks Syrian refugee resettlement indefinitely.

His reasoning? National security. Here’s where the problems begin.

This order is not going to provide safe and effective measures that are needed to prevent terrorist attacks and protect our security. All this order does is make the U.S. look like the bad guy, which is precisely what helps radicals gain traction in recruitment tactics.

“It’s a national security issue by keeping them out. Now we are making people more angry and something could happen,” said President of College Democrats at California Lutheran University Katelyn Dembowski.

As reported in The Washington Post, Jihadist groups have celebrated in this “blessed ban” that ignites their argument that the U.S. is at war with Islam.

“The hundreds of Muslim reformers I’ve spoken to say their task is made much harder when Western politicians and pundits condemn Islam entirely, demean their faith, and speak of all Muslims as backward and suspect,” Fareed Zakaria from CNN wrote.

This order is not effective in keeping the country safe. It is causing chaos for thousands of families and creating an astounding amount of political unrest.

“There’s a difference between that normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake. I put in that category if I saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fashion,” former President Barack Obama said in his last news conference as president.

A spokesperson for former President Obama recently spoke on his behalf and said Obama was “heartened by the level of engagement” that’s been instigated over opposition to the travel ban.

We wonder why Obama would say this, why he was “heartened” by opposition and protests? It’s because we are exercising our First Amendment rights.

This new order seems to go against the Constitution and the basis of America’s ideals.

According to NPR, the State of Washington sued President Trump for implementing an unconstitutional order and called for a restraining order to pause enforcement of the ban.

Main arguments from the trial say that Washington universities have been affected.

“Students from outside the country have not been able to get back to their universities, as well as people who were doing business deals in those countries have not been able to get back yet, which is affecting their economy,” Dembowski from NPR said.

America was the land of dreams and opportunity for all, giving hope for a better life. We are headed toward becoming one of the most closed-off countries in the world.

Rebecca Austin
Staff Writer