Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was a refugee. Actress Marlene Dietrich was a refugee. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was a refugee.
Steve Jobs wouldn’t have created a worldwide technological revolution if his Syrian father hadn’t immigrated to the United States.
Refugees and immigrants are a benefit to the United States, not a burden.
News you need to knowOn Friday, Jan. 27 President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan) from entering the U.S. for 90 days. It also suspended America’s refugee program for 120 days. Syrian refugees are banned indefinitely.
Late Saturday, Federal Judge Anne Donnelly granted an emergency stay that temporarily barred authorities from deporting those with the proper visas.
When the U.S eventually accepts refugees again, we will only accept 50,000 people (instead of 110,000). If you are a Christian refugee, your application will be given preference over Muslim applicants.
Why this is not normalTrump’s executive order is unconstitutional. According to Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, it violates “due process protections of the Constitution, the equal protection clauses of the Constitution, [and] violates some federal statues – [like] the Immigration Nationality Act.”
On the base of the Statue of Liberty it says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …”
Trump has rejected this vision in the name of “keeping America safe.” This does not square with the fact that no terror attacks have been carried out by citizens of the seven banned countries in more than two decades.
Trump did not ban travel from all majority-Muslim nations. Notably, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates are still free to travel. This is where the 19 terrorists of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks originated. These are also countries Trump has business interests in.
The only accomplishment of this ban is to bring fear, anger, and a Constitutional crisis to America’s door.
If you want to combat this executive order, consider donating a coupla bucks to the ACLU. Then call your representatives. (Emails get form letters and deleted. A phone call disrupts your representative and their staff’s time more. Disruption breeds quicker change. Find your representatives at http://www.whoismyrepresentative.com/.)
Patty TempletonDGO Staff Writer
