'Muslim Ban', Donald Trump's First Batch Of Executive Order

Trump is living up to poll rhetoric. More Muslims may find America a mirage.

- Pranay Sharma

The Islamophobia that had dominated Donald Trump’s presidential campaign got translated into the US government’s policy on January 27, sadly, coinciding with a day observed in large parts of the world—including America— as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in memory of millions of Jews who perished during Adolf Hitler’s anti­Semitic pogrom. The new president’s measures sparked off large ­scale protests in the US, dividing the administration and judiciary vertically. Nearly 100 American diplomats signed a petition questioning the policy, which drew street protests in other countries as well. In the UK, a nation that has traditionally been a close ally of the US, thousands gathered in London to demand the cancellation of Trump’s proposed state visit that included a meeting with the Queen and stay at the Buckingham Palace.

Trump, who had barely been a week in office as America’s president, issued an executive order, putting on hold for 120 days entry of Syrian refugees into the US and banning people from seven Muslim­dominated countries—Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen—for 90 days from entering America. The argument: they needed “extreme vetting” before being allowed to come in to keep the country safe. There are indications that more, particularly Pakistan and Afghanistan, could join the list of banned countries.