Barely two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has stunned the world by signing into effect some of the controversial promises he made as a candidate. His decision to ban refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim majority nations has deepened the fissures within the United States.
Picture this. A Harvard graduate from Sudan with a green card, pursuing a PhD from Stanford University, in handcuffs. Back from a research trip, Nasrin Omer was held for over five hours at New York’s JFK airport by immigration officers. The 39-year-old was questioned about her views on Sudanese politics and was patted down aggressively, upon which she broke into tears. Omer was among hundreds who bore the brunt of President Donald Trump’s decision to ban immigrants from seven Muslim majority countries.
Barely two weeks into his presidency, Trump has stunned the US and the world by speedily signing into effect several of his controversial campaign promises. These include building the Mexico border wall, recommissioning oil pipelines, pulling America out of the TransPacific Partnership and repealing Obamacare. But none of them evoked the punch-in-the-gut reaction like the executive order banning refugees from seven Muslim majority countries. The “extreme vetting” orders were signed on January 27, suspending with immediate effect entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely, and blocking for 90 days citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Political pundits were quick to point out that Trump had no business interests in those countries.
Chaos and despair unravelled at airports across the US as the ban went into effect. Sara Yarjani, an Iranian student at the California Institute for Human Science, was returning after a trip when she was stopped at the Los Angeles airport. She was forced to void her visa on her own, after being threatened with serious consequences if she resisted. Only then was she allowed to use a phone. She was then put on a plane to Oslo, Norway, en route to Austria where her family lived.
This story is from the February 12, 2017 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the February 12, 2017 edition of THE WEEK.
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