Who thought Donald J. Trump would be the 45th president of the United States of America? This past election has been arguably the most controversial election ever. There has been and continues to be a constant grind between the media and politicians. Specifically, the clash between the media and President Trump. Trump’s young presidency has begun to reveal his character and values. Trump has taken recent action through reforming immigration. Trump would have made the decision to enact this executive order based off his character and his values. President Trump’s executive order on immigration reform has negatively affected American citizens, and the world by going against Americans traditional immigration values. These negative effects of the immigration ban resonate through the stories told. 

In Trump’s co-authored biography he is referred to as a “winner”. He was born into money and set on the path to riches from youth. But, he was not just handed it, he worked diligently to get where he is today. In Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success written by Meredith McIver and Donald Trump, we get a glimpse into Trump’s head. He did not take “no” for an answer, “Because when I hear the word ‘no’ it 

becomes a challenge to me” (Trump). Donald views things that are ‘impossible’ as challenging possibilities. “That kind of attitude can give you the power to conquer obstacles and success in the face of long odds” (Trump). These traits have propelled himself to the oval office. Within the first weeks of his presidency a lot was going on. There were numerous protests in many major cities. During this time, there was a massive Women’s right’s march through the heart of Washington D.C. just one day after he was inaugurated. It seemed like every media source had it out for him, there were constant stories circulating through the news that were negative for Trump. Every day since his inauguration there have been protestors lining the gate of the White House. This amount of uproar from the people and the media has sustained since his inauguration and is fueled by the backlash from the new immigration reform. This “winner” attitude and a never take “no” for an answer determination comes to light in Trump’s inaugural address. He began the address by pledging that this will mark a moment in history. The address stated his intentions for the nation. Which is to return the power to middle class Americans and to put America first in all facets, whether it be economical, military or immigration. He says, “the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer” (Trump). Trump also intends to make this country safer, he tweeted on January 30th, “MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!” His “America First” mentality has no limits when it comes to his countries safety. This immigration reform is a result of that mentality. 

President Donald Trump’s controversial pro-American immigration reform has sent a shockwave across the world. This executive order is 

 “banning travel to the USA from seven predominantly Muslim countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen) for 90 days, suspending the US resettlement program for all refugees for 120 days, indefinitely suspending the entry of Syrian refugees, and reducing the number of resettled refugees from 110,000 to 50,000, has dramatically and negatively affected millions of people’s lives” (Spiegel). 

The current refugee screening system in place is already strenuous. The average time of the current process is from 18-24 months and refugees must go through multiple background checks before they can even enter the country. Syrian refugees have additional checks. “Furthermore, since the US refugee Act of 1980 was established, no refugee has been implicated in a major fatal terrorist attack in the USA, and since the 1970s only 20 refugees have been convicted of committing or attempting a terrorist act” (Spiegel). This new ban is harshly adding onto to an existing process which is already lengthy and successful. The purpose of this ban is to locate for 90 days “individuals with terrorist ties and stopping them from entering the United States” says Trump. If said person is found from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, refugees will be suspended for 120 days while more reform is created. Some media outlets, advocacy groups and aid groups are claiming this is specifically a Muslim ban (McCausland). Adding this new legislation will make it even harder for people to enter this country, specifically, the refugees in need from the listed countries. By the time, those refugees are granted permission to enter, it may be far too late.

Since the inception of America, it has been a home for people of all colors, creed, religion or race. America was conceived on the concept of freedom. Whether that be religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to protest, etc. America has proudly been referred to as a “melting pot”. This immigration ban is directly in conflict with America’s traditional immigration morals and values. One of these values being, that all who need a home are welcome. We are closing our doors in these refugee’s time of need. When this ban was enacted, there was a major uproar in the states. Americans gathered in masses at several major airports to openly protest this ban. Chants such as “set the refugees free” and “hey hey hoo hoo, the Muslim ban has got to go” echoed through the halls of San Francisco International Airport and JFK International Airport in Queens, New York. Multiple people were detained at various airports, but specifically, Congressman Jerry Nadler says “…12 people were detained at JFK International Airport.” One of those twelve detained was a man named Hameed Khalid Darweesh. He is a 53-year-old man from Iraq. Him and his family were granted visas to travel to the United States. Upon arriving at JFK, he was detained by authorities. Hameed had served 10 years as an Iraqi interpreter for the American Military during the war. He was also hired by the U.S. military for electrical engineering work. “He was contracted by the US government to work in a variety of positions that placed him in substantial risk of being targeted, attacked and killed by anti-American militias and insurgents” (Walters). After an extensive vetting process, Hameed was released and granted an immigrant visa (Herbst).  In an interview with CNN, Hameed had this to say, 

“First of all, I want to thank the people that care for me and they support me. They leave their family, their business and they come to support me…This is the sole of America. This is what pushed me to move and leave my country and come here, and I am very very thankful… America is the land of the freedom, the land of the right.” 

He then says that he will forget about everything that happened because “America is the greatest nation in the world, the greatest people in the world.” Hameed later goes on to say that he was confused when he was detained because of his friendship with the government. But even that will not get in the way of how he feels about this nation. This action by authority speaks volumes to how disrespectful this ban is. This man aided our troops in Iraq and this is how we repay him? Hameed described the American values and the dream he has for his family as the things that pushed him to want to move to America. These values being that all are welcome; this ban goes directly against those reasons which drove him to move.

Another story comes in the form of a loving mother visiting her children in the United States. This mother is named Khanon Mahindokht Azad, a 78-year-old Iranian woman. Khanon was detained upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport. She was on her way to visit her ten children. This innocent woman was detained by law enforcement for 27 hours. Azad was given no legal counsel and was being heavily pressured by officials to sign papers which would withdraw her application for admission into the US. Khanon suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney problems. Over the course of this excruciatingly long wait, the authorities were forced to call one of her sons because she had fallen ill (Walters). Eventually she was released and allowed into the country. America has always welcomed travelers with open arms, but now, this is how we treat travelers. This is no way to treat guests of our country, let alone a 

78-year-old woman with health complications. These actions are un-American and shed a negative light upon all of America.

This ban has also affected many American citizens. Some of them being students and others being in academia. An affected student named Raya Bidshahri attends the University of Boston. She has been a US citizen for three years. Raya studies neuroscience and says she has been warned by the University about leaving the country. She loves Boston but she fears she might have to go home once her student visa runs out after graduation in May. Her family will likely not be able to travel from Iran to see her graduate because of the ban (Lewin). Raya says, 

“…My family and I have always dreamed of coming to the United States and accomplishing our dreams here. My family put in all their investments and financial resources to allow me to come here and make things happen. We are treated like we’re terrorists, as if we want to cause trouble when above all we just want to make the United States a better place...” 

She is talking about the “American Dream.” A construct America was founded upon and has thrived on since its creation. It is the idea that any man or women, of any color, creed, religion or race can live in America and be successful. This immigration ban is conflicting with that dream by hindering people’s ability to enter the country and potentially chase that dream.  Another affected student is named Ali Abdi. Ali attends Yale University. On January 22nd, he left from New York to travel to Afghanistan to perform research. Ali is working towards a PhD in anthropology. On his way to Afghanistan he became stranded in Dubai, Ali later posted on Facebook, 

“Now in Dubai, waiting for the issuance of my visa to enter Afghanistan to carry out the ethnographic research. The language of the racist executive order he just signed is ambiguous, but it is likely to prevent permanent residents like me from returning to the country where I am a student…” 

He compares his situation to others by saying, “This is just one story among thousands.” Throughout its history, America has been at the forefront of mathematics and the sciences. And one of the beautiful things about this country is that we allow immigrants to come and live here on student visas. These students will then potentially enter the American work force and further advance our math and science programs. This ban is hindering America’s ability to receive immigrants and provide education for them and it is directly going against America’s morals and values as a country. 

On a similar note, this ban is also largely affecting the academic community. It is tarnishing existing relationships we have within the academic community and it is giving America a bad name for the future. This could be detrimental for the future of America as a world leader in education and research. One member of this community who was affected told her story. Her name is Fatemah Shams, an Iranian national who is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her family has been persecuted and imprisoned by the Iranian government. After years of struggling she is finally settling down into a normal life. She says “…my whole life is up in the air again as a result of one signature.” Her life has now been thrown through another loop. 

“Everything including my career is now at risk. It does not matter if you are a professor at one of the best universities of this country or a student or a migrant or a refugee. As long as you were born in Iran you are accused of being a terrorist and therefore you are banned from living a normal life…You are banned from being a human being” says Shams. 

Hailing from a more political perspective comes Obama’s former White House science advisor John Holdren. He claims, “…the president’s move could strain international science ties, possibly making the world less safe.” What Holdren said is true. Science communities around the world could shun or shed a negative light upon Americans due to this disrespectful ban. Trump’s intentions were to make America safe but in the end this could ultimately be a negative for American’s health and well-being. The world’s network of scientists look out for each other. Holdren says, “Our scientific collaborations with China means we get notice on influenza outbreaks immediately so that we can develop a vaccine to target the right strain of the virus months ahead of time.” This is just one of many examples where things could go horribly wrong for America. The negative backlash from the ban could ruin our collaborative academic groups with other countries and ultimately be detrimental for the future of American’s.

This ban may not all be that bad. It is a temporary plan to weed out those who intend to inflict pain on Americans. Donald Trump says, “America has always been the land of the free and the home of the brave. We will keep it free and keep it safe…” Many protestors and media outlets are calling this a “Muslim ban.” When asked if it is in fact a “Muslim ban”, Trump replies by saying,

 “To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion…This is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order” (McCausland). 

President Trump has plenty of support from his advocates. In a CNN interview on January 30th, Trump supporters vouched for him. They stressed the fact that they do not hate Muslims and they resent those who do. This group also feels that the world has changed and that our policies need to change with it. They say instead of blaming Trump, people should blame the people who are responsible for the multiple terror attacks across the world. One supporter in that January CNN interview named Jay Lin backed up Trump by saying, “It’s temporary, until we figure out a way of securely vetting the people who are coming to this country. I think everyone wants to be safe.” This group of Trump voters was comprised of men and women, and people of various races. One man named Vinod Nayyar says, “There is a human side of it, which I think we could have done differently. But I think the intent is right.” Vinod Nayyar immigrated from India 41 years ago, and he voted for Trump. Our President has the support of immigrants. Another one of those immigrants is named Danny Eapen. He was born and raised in Qatar by his two Indian parents. Danny says he is used to being heavily screened while traveling and does not mind it. Even though he was unable to vote he still vouched for Trump. When asked what he thought about the ban he said, “…he doesn’t see the ban as a Muslim ban because so many Muslim-

majority countries, such as Indonesia, were left off the list. He saw it as more of an effort to target certain problematic hot spots in the world” (Lewin). Like Trump and his advocates have said, it is just temporary. But, the present issue is that there is a moral conflict. What we are doing is wrong and against American values. This is vocalized by one of Trump’s supporters named Lenny Zaprowski, “Is it the right thing to do? I don’t know.” Lenny says he grapples with the morality of it every day. And the answer is, yes, it is wrong. This ban is blatantly going against America’s values. 

Politicians around the world have spoken out against this ban and some even call it an embarrassment. Arizona senator John McCain and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham vocalized their frustrations with the president’s new legislation. They are worried this will send the wrong message and tarnish our relationship with our allies in the fight against terror overseas. They said, “Our most important allies in the fight against ISIL are the vast majority of Muslims who reject its apocalyptic ideology of hatred. This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country.” (McCausland). Not only have political leaders in this country spoken out, but leaders worldwide are beginning to as well. Among them are some of our closest allies. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany says, 

“The necessary and decisive fight against terrorism in no way justifies a general suspicion against people of certain beliefs, in this case people of Muslim faith or from a 

certain origin…These actions, according to my beliefs, are against the core idea of international aid for refugees and international cooperation” (Ansari, Robertson and Dewan). 

And the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson spoke out against this immigration reform by saying, “This is not the approach this government would take” (Ansari, Robertson and Dewan). Boris Johnson also describes Trump’s actions as “divisive and wrong.” This ban can have damaging ramifications for the continued war in the Middle East and the other potential wars to come.

This issue must be brought to light because Trump’s travel ban is much more harmful than it is productive. It has negatively affected American citizens described in the multiple stories told. It has negatively affected our relationships in the academic world and has the potential to ruin relationships that would be crucial to America’s future health and well-being. This ban has also ruined relationships with foreign countries and has the possibility of ruining others, even, our closest allies which could be very damaging for America in its current war in the Middle East and the potential wars to come. Trump’s intentions are to keep American citizens and our home safe, but, this ban directly conflicts with the traditional values and morals that this country was built on and has thrived on.
