DONALD TRUMP claims he wanted to make America safe and so last week, he hastily issued an executive order banning the Syrian refugees into the United States, and revoked the visas of at least 60,000 nationals from seven Muslim-dominated countries.
The countries in question are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.
This move created chaos in major airports in the United States with immigration and state officers, as well as airport personnel lost on clear guidelines of how to implement these executive measures. Protests all over the world erupted to denounce what they call an illegal and discriminatory ban singling out people because of their nations of origin and religion.
The latest CBS news poll (which yielded the same results as the CNN/ORC poll) revealed that a majority of Americans, 51 percent, disapprove of Trump’s travel ban. Only 45 percent approve of this measure.
Of the people who supported the ban, 85 percent are Republicans, with only 11 percent among Democrats giving their thumbs up.
The study also shows that contrary to Trump’s intent, only 36 percent of Americans believe this move will make the country safer.
An equal number, 36 percent, believe it will in fact make the country less safe because it will alienate the Muslims in the country and may be used by ISIS as a tool to recruit more people to sow terror in America — even among homegrown terrorists.
This executive order may also turn away people in the Muslim community who have in fact been our partners in combatting terrorism.
The study also reveals 22 percent believe this ban will have no effect at all.
On Friday, a Seattle federal judge granted a temporary restraining order on the immigration ban on a nationwide basis.
The Washington state attorney argued that Trump’s order violated the “Constitution’s guarantee of Equal Protection and the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, infringes on individuals’ constitutional right to Due Process and contravenes the federal Immigration & Nationality Act.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Do you agree with President Trump’s travel ban?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
