Trump’s Immigration Ruling

By: Joe Mauricio

 

Not even a month since President Donald Trump assumed the post of President of the United States, but a lot of Liberals and immigrants still continue to demonize him.

President Trump signed an executive order holding refugee arrivals into the U.S. for 100 days and barring citizens of Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen from entering the U.S..

The order took immediate effect and left refugees stranded in or detained in airports across the country. This ruling is seen as the most severe legal blow yet on immigration, while the ban was met with an immediate backlash from both Republicans and Democrats alike.

What really is the meaning of immigration ban?

The signed order also bars all Syrians from entering the U.S. and gives preference in admission to Christians, whom he said are persecuted in majority of the Muslim countries.

He suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, banned all immigrants from Muslim countries for 90 days, and ordered his administration to develop “extreme vetting measures” for immigrants from those countries to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of U.S.

What is confusing to many people is the definition of “immigrants” and “refugees”. “Immigrants” are people who come to live permanently in a foreign country, while “refugee” is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster, and has protected status under international law.

Most of the 85,000 refugees admitted in 2016 came from countries that are at war or under control of repressive governments. Top admissions from Africa came from the Republic of Congo and Somalia’ East Asia from Myanmar, and the greatest number from Europe came from Ukraine.

Does Trump have a legal authority to block refugees and other immigrants?

He may, on security grounds. A president has the power to shut down the refugee program without approval from Congress.

Federal law allows the president to ban entry to any immigrant or class of immigrants, if he deems them detrimental to the interest of the United States, and to impose on the entry of aliens any restriction he may deem to be appropriate.

How many immigrants does U.S. admit and how many came from the seven countries on Trump’s list?

The U.S. State Department issued 617,752 immigrant visas and over 10,000 non-immigrant visas. One of 20 immigrant visas issued, about 30,000 went to people from the seven majority Muslim countries.

Why did he single out those seven countries?

Three of them, Iran, Sudan and Syria, comprise the State Department’s list of sponsors of terrorism. The other four, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, are designated as terrorists’ safe havens.

Can Trump block or favor refugees based on their religion?

Legal experts say a ban on Muslim immigrants rather than ban on immigrants from specific countries that have Muslim majorities would be challenged based on First Amendment, which guarantees Freedom of Religion.

These are human beings who have the human heart, that went through many things in their own countries of origin and come to this country to save themselves and their families’ lives, to live in peace, and to have better future for their families. God bless America!