Sunday, January 29, 2017

Trump's Unamerican religious ban on Muslim immigrants

Doesn't President Trump's executive order to ban Muslims from seven select Muslim countries violate the First Amendment?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Isn't imposing a religious test on immigrants a violation of the black letter language of the First Amendment? I'm sure he has some lawyers who can find a way to parse it out in defense of the constitutionality of his executive order, but it's intent and meaning are plain - keep Muslims out, just as he promised on the campaign trail.  I expect this to be overturned in the courts, maybe by the Supreme Court if it gets that far.

By the way, it is interesting which countries are included in the "ban".  Alex Nowrasteh of the conservative think tank, the Cato Institute, points out how many Americans have been killed on U.S. soil by the banned countries:

  • Syria - 0
  • Iraq - 0
  • Iran - 0
  • Libya - 0 
  • Sudan - 0
  • Yemen - 0
  • Somalia - 0
And here are how many Americans have been killed on U.S. soil by majority Muslim countries not on Trump's list:
  • Saudi Arabia - 2,369
  • United Arab Emirates - 314
  • Egypt - 162

Indeed, 98.6% of American terrorist deaths on U.S. soil happened on 9/11.  Our security apparatus has been remarkable in keeping America safe in the last 16 years.  Trump stokes paranoia and rode that fear of terrorists and immigrants to the presidency.  

Fareed Zakaria on his Sundayt GPS broadcast pointed out that "none of the Majority Muslim countries that have a Trump hotel, building, or office are on the list."  Coincidence?  Perhaps.

So, isn't it essentially unAmerican, and thus unpatriotic, to impose a religious test to keep out Muslims form these selected countries? 


The United States has many allies in these countries who are being banned by the Trump dictate.  We have many Iraqi allies who fought on our side against the terrorists, and they were promised sanctuary in the U.S. and who are to be turned away.  Isn't this just wrong?

How do we fight the terrorist branch of Islam without imploring the assistance of our natural allies in this fight, the rest of Islam - who are the primary victims of the Islamofascists?  

Isn't banning Muslims from U.S. entry adding power to the Islamofascist recruiting narrative that the U.S. and the West are fighting a war against all of Islam?  Isn't banning Muslims from U.S. entry a tremendous boost the the recruitment of Muslims into becoming Islamofascists?

I have been trying to focus on Trump's actions rather than his distracting statements and tweets. This is an action, and it is unconstitutional, unAmerican, and dramatically hurts our war against the Islamofascist element of the Muslim world.

Fortunately, Mr. Trump is not our King, and his unAmerican dictates can be overturned.