Executive Orders, Refugees, and Us

President Trump recently signed an executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days, suspending the admission of all refugees for 120 days.

America has received more refugees than any other country in the world. Most Americans are proud of our heritage and can list all the places our distant relatives migrated from. Some of us are lucky, our great-grandparents came mostly of free will, for land and dreams. Many Americans came fleeing religious persecution. The current ban is on refugees from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In these countries, millions of innocent civilians are displaced and hundreds of thousands have been killed – 400,000 since 2011 in Syria alone. Why is our current administration pulling back on refugee policy, when in the past our more celebrated presidents have been generous?

In April 1975, President Gerald Ford began Operation Babylift, the evacuation of 2,600 Vietnamese orphans for adoption by American parents. That is only a fraction of the 480,000 Vietnamese who had migrated to the US by 1995. These refugees flooded into America efficiently, boosting the economies in port cities and creating richly cultured communities.

According to the Washington Post, America has received 750,000 refugees since 9/11. Even though Trump is barring refugees because of the fear that they may actually be terrorists, history shows that only three refugees have ever been arrested for terrorist-related activities, none of which included anyone being attacked. The word “refugee” is often misused by news outlets, however. For example, Boston Marathon bombers (the Tsarnaev brothers) were not refugees, though the media initially reported they were. Rather, they came to the U.S. as minors after their father sought asylum (and not from a country affected by Trump’s refugee ban). Despite what Trump implies, refugees already go through a vetting process to get into the U.S.

Keep in mind, also, that of all the mass shootings in American since 1982, white people (almost exclusively men) committed 64% of them. The fear that grows out of disinformation isn’t victimless; six people were killed and five injured when a white, Canadian man opened fire on a crowd of worshippers in Quebec City on Sunday, Jan. 29. In that single action, he killed more people than refugees in America ever have.

As we accept our new president it is important to have a nuanced view of his actions. His supporters should challenge the things he does that seem wrong or questionable. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right. The WWII Japanese internment camps in America were “legal,” and in 1988 President Ronald Reagan apologized for them.

It’s easy to feel nervous about people who are different, coming from a very different place. But it’s important to recognize the knee-jerk reactions and separate them from the facts. Our history of generous policies has defined us as a nation and has made many of us proud of the country we call home. I believe that we, as Americans, should strive to uphold that proud history.