Features

Democratic immigration policy

Kaylie Thompson and Anna Hamilton|April 18, 2017

Within his first two weeks in office, Trump signed an executive order that halted all immigrant and nonimmigrant visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East from entering the United States for 90 days. The executive order also blocked all refugees for 120 days and specifically restricted Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely.

There was widespread opposition to the executive order as people all over the United States flooded airports to protest. Many were confused as to why these countries were chosen as the Trump administration has not provided any evidence that anyone from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen has ever killed anyone in a terror attack in the US.

Democrats and Republicans argued that the ambiguous and poorly planned policy would decrease the security of the US and further fuel anti-American feelings.

Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham spoke out against the order on January 29. “We fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism,” McCain and Graham said. “[Trump’s executive order] may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”

Another criticism of the executive order included the claim that it targeted Muslim people. Donald Trump refuted these arguments by tweeting that the media came up with the word ban. However, Trump’s advisor Rudy Giuliani explained in an interview with Fox News that Trump had asked her how to legally implement a Muslim ban.

“Even when Trump first shifted his proposal away from a facial ban on Muslims entering the US, he called it ‘an expansion’ of his earlier explicit Muslim ban proposal rather than a repudiation of it. In other words, it was an attempt to target Muslims without saying so explicitly,” Washington Post journalist Ilya Somin said.

Rudy Giuliani’s statement has already been used by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates as well as others to denounce the executive order and prove its unconstitutionality. Additionally, a federal court appeals panel ruled to reject the reinstatement of Trump’s travel ban on February 9. The San Francisco United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with the ruling of James L. Robart, a district judge, who enacted a Temporary Restraining Order on the executive order stating, “The Executive Order adversely affects the States’ residents in areas of employment, educations, business, family relations, and freedom to travel.”

Trump’s speeches on the campaign trail and his resulting policies now prey on the fear that people have of the unknown. Instead, Democratic policy focuses on comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway to full and equal citizenship.

“It will treat every person with dignity, fix the family visa backlog, uphold the rule of law, protect our borders and national security, and bring millions of hardworking people into the formal economy,” according to Hillary Clinton’s campaign page.

For more information, visit theeyeonline.com for a list of references and additional resources including a playlist of refugees talking about their personal experiences.

Sources

What the executive order states

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/here-s-full-list-donald-trump-s-executive-orders-n720796

No proof that these people have killed our people

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/us/politics/appeals-court-trump-travel-ban.html?_r=0

John McCain and Lindsey Graham

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/trump-travel-ban-congress-reaction/

Interview with Brody and favoring Christians http://www.npr.org/2017/01/29/512305163/fact-check-trump-tweets-on-christians-isis-and-vetting-miss-the-bigger-picture

Rudy advisor comments and Sally Yates

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/why-trumps-immigration-rules-are-unconstitutional-214722

Washington post source

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/02/05/why-trumps-refugee-order-is-unconstitutional-discrimination-on-the-basis-of-religion/?utm_term=.5b1581658482