By Rosie Alger
Elm Staff Writer
President Donald Trump’s administration has not hesitated in submitting bills to Congress, planning to cut funding for federal administrations like the Environmental Protection Agency, National Endowment for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Recently, the administration attempted executive orders to ban travel from majority Muslim nations. Many of Trump’s actions have been controversial, but many more still are not getting talked about enough.
As the first Muslim ban, or travel ban, was shut down by federal judges and a reformed version starts its journey, it is as critical as ever for citizens not to get distracted, overwhelmed, or complacent, and to continue to act out against these harmful policies.
When Trump’s administration issued the first executive order ban on refugee entry and travel from majority Muslim nations, there was immediate backlash, and chaos in airports across the nation. Lawyers were sitting on airport floors offering pro-bono work to immigrants and minorities that were withheld and questioned or denied access to the U.S .
The online liberal forces that oppose Trump, myself included, had all eyes and ears on the event, and protests erupted quickly. This is an important step, and I believe in taking action in support of your opinions. But it is also important to make sure we look at all the facts, and continue to pay attention after all the chaos and energy around the event has died down.
For example, it is important to know that not only did the original ban prevent travel from seven majority Muslim nations, but it also did not prevent travel from other Muslim nations in which Trump has financial investments.
As Rosalind S. Helderman from the Washington Post said, “Excluded from the lists are several majority-Muslim nations where the Trump Organization is active and which in some cases have also faced troublesome issues with terrorism.”
This makes it all the more clear that Trump’s “national security” concerns are more prejudiced than they are based in real concern for the American public.
It was excellent news when Hawaii U.S. District Court Judge Derrick K. Watson temporarily blocked the executive order, but, afterwards, many citizens stopped watching this story with the same level of enthusiasm.
The travel ban is far from done making trouble. Richard Gonzales and others at NPR wrote, “After a federal district court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the first travel ban, the revised version temporarily suspended entry by travelers from six mostly Muslim countries, not seven, as the original did. (Iraq was dropped from the list.) And the new order made clear that it didn’t apply to lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, or to people holding valid visas issued before the ban’s effective date. It still suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days. It also cut the number of refugees the U.S. would accept this year by more than half, from 110,000 to 50,000.”
The reformed order is not much better than the first, and still operates under the basic principle that Muslim immigrants are somehow inherently dangerous to our nation.This idea is both flawed and prejudiced, and should eventually be deemed unconstitutional. Although there are judges speaking out against the order, there are also many forces working for Trump in support of this ban.
The Department of Justice has been speaking in support of Trump’s right to enact this ban, and in response to the judges’ block, as Gonzales said, “The judge concluded, based on the historical context of the travel ban and public statements made by the president, that ‘a reasonable, objective observer…would conclude that the Executive Order was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion[.]’ Lawyers for the Justice Department had argued that Trump acted within his powers to set immigration policy and protect national security. They also argued that Hawaii’s claims of harm were speculative.”
Even now, after a Maryland judge moved to support Warren’s ruling to block the order, Trump’s administration is fighting adamantly to get the ban enacted.
Alana Abramson from Time Magazine said, “The White House has filed papers in court giving notice it will appeal a Maryland Judge’s decision that blocked the portion of President Trump’s executive order banning people from certain countries entering the United States.”
It seems that once Trump’s attention is set on a goal, he will stop at nothing to have his way. We have not seen the end of this ban, and if we ever want to ensure that it does not succeed, the opposition needs our support and attention now more than ever.
When your president spends more time on Twitter than talking to the White House Press Corps, it is easy to get distracted from the real dangers of his administration. Of course the fiery things that Trump says are angering, but it is far more important to get up in arms about the bills, executive orders, and other real actions his administration are taking that threaten the democracy and development of our nation. Stay vigilant, and continue to speak out when you see injustice, especially when the people in authority want you to believe these injustices are the new norm or are somehow for the common good.