Tiffany Rascoe

April 21, 2017

Written Communication 102-21

Dr. Craig Wynne

Online Opinion Piece

On March 6th, following a shellacking in several federal courts, Donald Trump quietly

released a revised version of his executive order banning travel from a handful of Muslim

countries (economist, 2017). For the past three months, Donald Trump has been trying to

enforce a policy that bans Muslims from entering the United States of America. Despite Donald

Trumps claim that it is not a ban against Muslim people, but rather this is about terror and

keeping our country safe"(politifact, 2017).

After Donald Trump signed the executive order to close the American borders to refugees

from Syria, he even went as far as to suspend the entrance of citizens from seven majority-

Muslim countries. Federal judges noticed this and many different judges from all over the

country ordered the Department of Homeland Security to immediately stop enforcing the

executive order. America is the home of the free and land of the brave. So why is it that the

president is acting like a coward and taking away these peoples freedom by forcing them to stay

in a country that they do not consider home? In my opinion, it is important for this policy to stay

ineffective. It is important for the judges of the United States to stay consistent and continue to

block this policy.

 This ban against Muslims has caused heartbreak throughout the country. A man named

Abdalla, who is a refugee from Somalia was heartbroken when he learned that his daughter,

Batulo would not be able to travel with the rest of the family to the United States. After many

long years of interviews and screenings, the family was ecstatic to hear that they had passed and

were able to safely travel to the United States. Their celebration was short lived after further

reading that their eldest daughter, who was not considered a dependent minor, would not be able

to travel with the rest of the family to join their father in the United States. They kept their hopes

up, believing that in a few short months she would join the rest of the family. Their high hopes

were let down on January 27. Months after the family settled in their apartment and were

expecting their family, Donald Trump signed the order that banned travelers from seven Muslim-

majority countries, one of which was Somalia. This policy tore the family apart as Abdalla was

forced to call his daughter and tearfully break the news that she would not to be able to join them

anytime soon. This is just one of many scenarios that has come about because of Trumps travel
ban. Businessmen and women, students, and tourists are also affected by the travel ban.

Donald Trump implementing the travel ban against Muslim people from Muslim-majority

countries and calling it Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United

States is basically stating that terrorists originate from Muslim countries. This is false. zero
fatal attacks were carried out by immigrants from the seven Muslim-majority countries targeted

by the ban (People, 2017). From the September 11 attacks, 15 of the hijackers were from Saudi

Arabia, 2 were from the United Arab Emirates, 1 was from Egypt, and the last from Lebanon.

Yet, none of these countries were listed on the travel ban. The 2001 anthrax attacks, which killed

five people and left seventeen infected was allegedly committed by biodefense researcher Bruce

Ivins, who was American. In 2012, Wade Michael Page, an active white supremacist who was

born in America, shot and killed six people and wounded four others at a Sikh temple in

Wisconsin. This just goes to show that all terrorist are not from Muslim countries, and these

travelers are being discriminated against by being grouped as terrorist because of a few bad

apples.

Right now, I am calling all of America to take a stand. It is our job as citizens of the

United States of America to stop allowing the freedom of our country to be taken away. It is

fundamental for judges across the country to continue blocking this policy, politicians to call

Donald Trump out on his stereotyping, discriminative ways. Lastly, but most importantly we, as

citizens need to support the people who are missing quality time with their family, we need to

support the people who are stuck in war zones because Trump will not allow them to find refuge

here. It is time for us, as citizens to take lead of our country and show the world what this

country really stands for.

Work Cited
 Corinthios, Aurelie. "How Many Terrorist Attacks in the U.S. Have Been Carried Out by

Immigrants from the 7 Banned Muslim Countries?" PEOPLE.com. Time Inc, 29 Jan. 2017. Web.

20 Apr. 2017.

Drum, Kevin. "Chart of the Day: 90,000 People Are Affected by Trump's Travel Ban.

About 87,000 Are Muslim." Mother Jones. N.p., 31 Jan. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

Kertscher, Tom. "Is Donald Trump's Executive Order a 'Muslim Ban'?" PolitiFact

Wisconsin. Wisconsin Edition, 3 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

Shoichet, Story By Catherine E. "Split by Trump's Travel Ban, a Family Races to

Reunite." CNN. Cable News Network, 21 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

S.M. "Donald Trump's New Travel Ban Faces a Trio of Lawsuits." The Economist. The

Economist Newspaper, 14 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.