I've been taking some time away from social media for a few days- hence the hiatus of posting. I noticed that my mood is directly affected by social media: it was my main form of the news, as well as the emotions/opinions attached to it. I realized that my opinions were coming from unbiased news sources, not to mention that the people posting the news (my friends on Facebook), were tagging it with their own biases. That's not to say that is a bad thing, necessarily, but I wanted to be able to form my own opinion about these changes that our happening in our everyday lives.
Plymouth State University offers an American Government course that I've been taking. Our misogyny, racism, xenophobia, etc, has been a part of American history for so many centuries. Taking a course in the history of Government is inherently important, and it's definitely helped me understand our history, as well as what's happening today.
Which brings me to my next point. On 1/27/17, President Trump signed an executive order to keep out immigrants from America. It has become very controversial, understandably, and there were massive protests from airports of different parts of America that were halted due to his ban. People were denied entry to America, even though they were immigrants that have completed the entire immigrant process. These are people that have been trying for at least two years to come to America, and have VISAs in hand, but are being denied entry. How on earth is that constitutional?
Many others agree with me, in the idea that Trump's new executive order is unconstitutional, unnecessary, and with the mindset of it being for religion rather than terrorism. For example, federal judges are refusing to act on the ban, because of how strongly they disagree with it. For now, the order temporarily suspends the Refugee program admitting people for up to 120 days, as well as suspending travel of immigrants as well as non-immigrants to any of the 7 countries that is on Trump's "list."
I attended a speak out event at my school with the mindset to learn more about this immigration ban, as well as see if I can understand more of what people are feeling. I learned a lot about the ban, and here are some of what stuck with me:
-None of the 7 countries have ever been a threat to Americans and have never sent over immigrants that are terrorists
-You are more likely to be killed by a toddler than by a terrorist
-President Trump is a pathological liar (see: "murder rates are on an 47% high")
-Within times of America letting in close to 3.5 million immigrants/refugees, there have been 20 terrorists, 3 separate attacks, and 3 Americans killed. That is between mid-1900's until now. Of those attacks, none of the countries that sent the terrorist(s) that killed the 3 Americans is on the list. (Without counting 9/11.)
-President Trump has made it somewhat understood that there is little-to-no screening practice, and that people are coming in and out of our country without will. This is not true. If you would like to see our process now, click here. This process could take upwards of 2-3 years at the very least.
-People are scared.
-President Trump prioritizes religious countries. The 7 countries on the ban are all Muslim-majority countries. In his ban, he states that we will take people regarding religion, if they are that of a minority in their country and feel unsafe: i.e., Christians in Muslim countries. Sneaky wording, huh?
It's important to stay hopeful and loving. Many refugees/immigrants are feeling like they are not welcome into America. America is supposed to be a place of hope, light, and promise. We are not portraying that promise anymore. The majority of people that are coming to America are terrified. They are coming to us because they are dealing with their own personal hell in their countries (see: ISIS), and America is supposed to be their savior to flee to. These people are the victims. Why are we punishing them for that?
As one of the professors at this speak out event said so eloquently: "Imagine how many lives are getting lost while we're being so overly cautious."
We are human beings, at the base of it all. And I believe that race, gender, age, skin color, religion, and sexuality should not play a role in defining us as Americans. I believe that we should all help each other; human to human, and let anyone come to America, with open arms, welcoming them to our beautiful home.
Here are some photos from the protests in the airports.
Photos from: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/us-immigration-protests/
http://www.businessinsider.com/protest-photos-trump-muslim-immigration-ban-nyc-boston-dc-la-2017-1/#a-massive-crowd-formed-at-the-international-arrivals-gate-of-the-dallasfort-worth-international-airport-in-texas-14
Plymouth State University offers an American Government course that I've been taking. Our misogyny, racism, xenophobia, etc, has been a part of American history for so many centuries. Taking a course in the history of Government is inherently important, and it's definitely helped me understand our history, as well as what's happening today.
Which brings me to my next point. On 1/27/17, President Trump signed an executive order to keep out immigrants from America. It has become very controversial, understandably, and there were massive protests from airports of different parts of America that were halted due to his ban. People were denied entry to America, even though they were immigrants that have completed the entire immigrant process. These are people that have been trying for at least two years to come to America, and have VISAs in hand, but are being denied entry. How on earth is that constitutional?
Many others agree with me, in the idea that Trump's new executive order is unconstitutional, unnecessary, and with the mindset of it being for religion rather than terrorism. For example, federal judges are refusing to act on the ban, because of how strongly they disagree with it. For now, the order temporarily suspends the Refugee program admitting people for up to 120 days, as well as suspending travel of immigrants as well as non-immigrants to any of the 7 countries that is on Trump's "list."
I attended a speak out event at my school with the mindset to learn more about this immigration ban, as well as see if I can understand more of what people are feeling. I learned a lot about the ban, and here are some of what stuck with me:
-None of the 7 countries have ever been a threat to Americans and have never sent over immigrants that are terrorists
-You are more likely to be killed by a toddler than by a terrorist
-President Trump is a pathological liar (see: "murder rates are on an 47% high")
-Within times of America letting in close to 3.5 million immigrants/refugees, there have been 20 terrorists, 3 separate attacks, and 3 Americans killed. That is between mid-1900's until now. Of those attacks, none of the countries that sent the terrorist(s) that killed the 3 Americans is on the list. (Without counting 9/11.)
-President Trump has made it somewhat understood that there is little-to-no screening practice, and that people are coming in and out of our country without will. This is not true. If you would like to see our process now, click here. This process could take upwards of 2-3 years at the very least.
-People are scared.
-President Trump prioritizes religious countries. The 7 countries on the ban are all Muslim-majority countries. In his ban, he states that we will take people regarding religion, if they are that of a minority in their country and feel unsafe: i.e., Christians in Muslim countries. Sneaky wording, huh?
It's important to stay hopeful and loving. Many refugees/immigrants are feeling like they are not welcome into America. America is supposed to be a place of hope, light, and promise. We are not portraying that promise anymore. The majority of people that are coming to America are terrified. They are coming to us because they are dealing with their own personal hell in their countries (see: ISIS), and America is supposed to be their savior to flee to. These people are the victims. Why are we punishing them for that?
As one of the professors at this speak out event said so eloquently: "Imagine how many lives are getting lost while we're being so overly cautious."
We are human beings, at the base of it all. And I believe that race, gender, age, skin color, religion, and sexuality should not play a role in defining us as Americans. I believe that we should all help each other; human to human, and let anyone come to America, with open arms, welcoming them to our beautiful home.
Here are some photos from the protests in the airports.
Photos from: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/us-immigration-protests/
http://www.businessinsider.com/protest-photos-trump-muslim-immigration-ban-nyc-boston-dc-la-2017-1/#a-massive-crowd-formed-at-the-international-arrivals-gate-of-the-dallasfort-worth-international-airport-in-texas-14
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