Photo Courtesy: Number 10 (Flickr)
At this point, President Donald Trump and controversy go together like peanut butter and jelly. So it came as no surprise when our newly-minted president enforced a polarizing immigration policy which temporarily halted entry into the United States from seven Muslim-oriented countries—Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Forty other countries which are also Muslim-oriented were not affected by this new policy.
The past week has seen people absolutely lose their minds over this issue on both sides of the argument. People opposed to the policy have committed mass protests all over the country while proponents of the policy are bashing the opposition as self-righteous snowflakes. However, there is no good guy or bad guy in this scenario because everyone has handled this situation as poorly as humanly possible.
When it comes to immigration, this is a very difficult issue to wrap your finger around. Yes, the United States is a country built on immigrants and allowing people of all countries to have a shot at the American Dream. Yet, many people come into this country without following the rules to officially become a citizen.
Former President Bill Clinton once discussed the immigration issue during his presidency by stating, “We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws.” There are people from other countries who take advantage of this country’s laws, and it is important to take a stance to enforce those laws.
Trump went about the wrong way of enforcing this policy. Instead of giving everyone time to prepare for the enforcement of this policy and making it clear what the factual motive of this policy was, Trump simply enforced the new policy with the snap of his finger. By not explaining that the ban was a temporary halt of migration for countries believed by the Obama Administration to be terrorist hotbeds, Trump gave critics the ammo they needed to purport the narrative that he is a “Fascist monster out to hunt down Muslims in the name of white supremacy.”
By rushing the policy into place, mass confusion was created at airports all across the country, and many people were left unsure of exactly which immigrants would be affected by this policy. In turn, Trump created mass panic and chaos through a policy designed to avert mass panic and chaos.
I do not sympathize with Trump at all in his poor handling of this situation. Trump and his administration deserve everything they have gotten from the public because they come off like a bunch of stupid imbeciles that would make a room of meth-addicted monkeys seem smarter by comparison.
On the other hand, former President Barack Obama and members of the Democratic Party deserve equal criticism. In a public statement, Obama claimed to support the protestors of the Immigration Policy for taking a stand against Trump’s “racist scheme.”
Yet, Obama neglected to acknowledge the fact that this immigration policy only targeted those seven countries because they were deemed threats by his own administration. Trump’s poorly-executed plan was a byproduct of him following on what his predecessor had stated about where potential terrorist outlets lie. The fact that Obama threw Trump under the bus and did not try to defend the new leader of the free world is a really petty thing to do. As a result of that pettiness, more people went out to protest under a misguided narrative of racism.
Also, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s fake emotional scene at a press conference the other day was just embarrassing to watch. Trump praised his performance by asking what acting coach he uses, but I didn’t even think he did a good job at faking his emotion. Former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernie Kerik did not buy his phony sob story either, accusing Schumer of not showing that sort of emotion when they were together with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Sorry, Chuck, but do us all a favor and leave the acting to your second-cousin, Amy Schumer.
There is so much to get angry about on this whole issue, that it really is hard to put it all into a concise story. Yet, what is really infuriating here is all of the innocent, hard-working Muslim people who have been inconvenienced by all of this nonsense. Politicians and citizens from both ends of the political spectrum have been using Muslim citizens as pawns in a sick game where one side is trying to win. Republicans and Democrats want to have their way on an issue in which compromise and understanding between both sides is key. There is free speech and people having their opinions, but we all have to let go of our division-driven anger in order to avoid four years of an America torn in two.
