Trump's stance on immigration, is it so wrong?
On Friday the recently elected President Trump signed into effect an Executive Order designed to protect the country from from terrorists by temporary halting immigration whilst an immediate review is carried out with a view to tightening the country's ongoing immigration rules.
Trump's actions have caused somewhat of an alarmed reaction, with some claiming he is acting unethically, unconstitutionally or even illegally, but is this yet another case of the general media jumping to conclusions and prematurely branding something an outrage without prior justification?
The full text of the Executive Order can be viewed here but in summary the particulars of the order are as follows:
The purpose of the order is to ensure that the visa-issuing process that plays a crucial role in preventing terrorist attacks is improved to ensure that "The United States does not admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law. In addition, the United States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including “honor” killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation."
The need for such intervention is demonstrable by the fact that attacks, including 9/11, have been allowed to be carried out by foreign nationals on US soil.
The President orders that Homeland Security, the Secretary of State and the intelligence agencies conduct a review to establish what specific information is required from any country to determine that any individual making a visa application is who they say they are and does not represent a danger to the American people.
To relieve the burden of the investigative agencies during the review detailed above and to prevent infiltration by terrorists or criminals the President orders a 90 day suspension to the granting of visas to those from certain countries, save for those related to diplomatic, NATO or UN travel reasons.
Once the review detailed above is complete the US will ask any country that does not currently provide the information deemed to be necessary to begin providing it within 60 days, with any countries that do not provide the information within that period being declined visas until such time as the requested information is provided.
Additionally, the President orders that the Secretary of State, Homeland Security, the intelligence agencies and the FBI, "implement a program, as part of the adjudication process for immigration benefits, to identify individuals seeking to enter the US on a fraudulent basis with the intent to cause harm, or who are at risk of causing harm subsequent to their admission. This program will include the development of a uniform screening standard and procedure"
The President also orders that the US refugee policy is suspended for 120 days to give time for a similar review in order "to determine what additional procedures should be taken to ensure that those approved for refugee admission do not pose a threat to the security and welfare of the US."
The President orders that on resumption of the normal US refugee policy, priority should be given to those claiming refugee status who's reason for immigrating is that they have been religiously persecuted in their home country.
The President says that the entry of Syrian nationals as refugees is detrimental to the interests of the US and therefore orders the acceptance of Syrian refugees be suspended until such time as the policy has been reviewed and it can be determined that the entry of Syrian nationals is not detrimental to the interests of the US.
The President states it is the policy of the executive branch that State and local jurisdictions be granted a role in determining the placement of aliens admitted to the US.
That's the main bulk of the order, with respects to the halting of immigration as is being highlighted by the media, however an interesting part towards the end of the order pertains to transparency and data collection and directs Homeland Security and the Attorney General to begin making publicly available statistics relating to the number of foreign nationals in the US who have been charged with terrorism offences or violent offences against women.
I strongly encourage anyone reading this to use the link to check out the order in its full detail. Based on what I've read of the order and what I've highlighted above, there doesn't seem to be anything that shocking or discriminatory about what President Trump has ordered. On the contrary, it seems quite balanced and neutral, and just geared towards ensuring tighter security measures are in place in order to reduce the number of potentially dangerous individuals being permitted entry into the country and prevent against further terrorist attacks, rather than just outright banning all immigration as the media would have us believe.
Of course only time will tell what the true outcome of the order is, and it is feasible to think that the review and temporary immigration hiatus could be overall just a veil to cover what is really an intention to put a stop to immigration. After all, it's not like we've never known politicians to implement policies that whilst being outwardly described as one thing actually turned out to be quite another thing, but at this stage we have to simply accept it for what it is and view it solely on the strength of its wording. I would challenge anyone to review the exact wording of the order and demonstrate any real discrimination or bias.
Let's look at what we know. Politicians do lie. There is often an ulterior motive behind policies and legislation. But Trump is no politician. Trump seems to say as he thinks, and do as he pleases, regardless of the consequences. So if we were putting Trump on trial here and dealing solely with the evidence, wouldn't we have to agree that it's more likely that the policies he's trying to enact are simply what he says they are?
Furthermore, as demonstrated by the level of delegation that's made clear in the particulars of this executive order, it's not usually the President himself who has the final say on matters of great importance. We have already seen clear evidence that the members of Trump's cabinet are not simply yes-men and are not just a hand-picked assortment of people who share Trump's view on everything. In fact many of them have already been known to disagree with Trump and have made it clear that they will not simply side with him on everything, they will actively challenge anything they feel to be wrong. So with the ultimate responsibility for the changes of immigration policy lying with those other than Trump, it's likely that we will get a more balanced response and a more realistic attitude to the recommendation and implementation of any proposed changes than if he had full control over the matter.
But finally, aside from the fact that this Executive Order seems decidedly less controversial than some are making out, who's to say that halting immigration totally is not a good thing? It's not up to us as individual spectators to say what's wrong or right. What works for one person doesn't work for another, and what's right for one country certainly isn't right for another. Ultimately, every country has a very unique character. The demographics, the geography, the economy and the issues facing each country vary greatly and it's much more important to do what is right for the country and what is preferable to the people of that country than to do what is seen as right by the observing consensus. If a country does not welcome immigration or does not benefit from it then you can force them to adopt immigration friendly policies all you like, but it's not going to make the country any better, whereas if you let the country set their own policy and decide not to be so accepting of immigrants the people will thrive, as that is what suits them. What's the harm if others don't share one's view on the benefit of a multicultural society? What's the harm if they decide they have all the talent they need in the native population?
Let them have their xenophobic policies, all the more immigrants for us. All the more cultural variety and international talent available to bless our shores. What's far, far more important than how we perceive Trump or America as a whole, is what's best for America and what the American people want. Maybe the Americans want less immigration. I don't know. But if they do, then they have the right to have it that way.
