Personal impact of Trump Executive Order banning Muslims from USA
It’s official I am not allowed in the United States anymore. It’s my second home and where my heart is, what will I do?! — Sarah AK Ahmed
From my friend Sarah — a former student at the Univ of Rochester who now works with refugees fleeing ISIS in her native Iraq. A true servant of God and humanity whom is now barred from the USA. If people like Sarah can’t come here, what does this say about us? — Ken Johnson
An educated philanthropist and proactive humanitarian. A friend to many and a valuable asset to any community, Sarah AK Ahmed and many like her find themselves in a difficult situation caused by a racist agenda backed by an entitled, malignant, and power hungry administration. — Ammar Ramzi Mahmood
The media has covered the broad brush, is it illegal, is it constitutional (possibly not), scenes at airports, people taken off flights and detained, protest at JFK and other airports? What of the personal impact?
When Donald Trump signed with a flourish of his pen his executive order, he probably did not appreciate the international ruckus it would cause, the impact upon individuals, but then he has lost his top echelon at the State Department, who have resigned en masse.
Before we exercise knee jerk reaction against Donald Trump, personal prejudice coming to the fore and controlling our brain, we have to understand where he is coming from, he is implementing an election pledge.
We have to understand where support for Donald Trump comes from.
Poor, badly educated working poor. They have seen their wages flat-line since 1970s, have lost their jobs, seen factories crumbles to dust, steel mills rust, lost their homes under mortgage scams whilst the banks were bailed out. For decades betrayed by the corrupt Democrat Establishment.
The second much smaller group, the wealthy who will benefit.
Then another group, the right wing nutters, who take to the hills in their military fatigues, who love their guns.
Then there are the fundamentalist Christian evangelists, whose only theology is ignorance of Scripture.
The first group will suffer when they lose their healthcare. They will feel betrayed when the jobs do not materialise.
And no, Trump is not a Fascist that is to devalue the term. He is an oligarch in the mould of al-Sisi in Egypt or the dictator of Turkey or Vladimir Putin in Russia.
We are seeing rule by executive decree. That is not a democracy.
We are seeing Fascist tendencies, threats to silence the media. What are they going to do, imprison as in Turkey, execute on the street as in Russia?
Every country has the right to decide who can and who cannot enter.
There is an understandable if irrational fear of Muslim terrorism.
Europe is more at risk than US.
ISIS has said they will infiltrate their supporters into Western countries.
9/11 was carried out by Saudis.
Iraq disintegrated, became a centre for terrorism, thanks to illegal war by war criminals George W Bush and Tony Blair.
Syria disintegrated into chaos following several years of drought due to climate change. Farmers migrated to the cities, mounted peaceful protest, were gunned down by Assad thugs, armed themselves, and it escalated from there.
Most of the terrorism is Muslim on Muslim, and takes place in the Middle East, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
A temporary ban has logic, a pause to implement a policy on vetting.
Already the temporary ban is unravelling.
Those who have entered the US and face deportation, a judge has ruled in their favour.
Trump is unlikely to serve four years. It is a case which will come first, Assassination or Impeachment.
What Trump does serve as is a catalyst, a wake up call to Americans, that they have to force through real change.
It’s official I am not allowed in the United States anymore. It’s my second home and where my heart is, what will I do?!
One of those banned from entering the USA is my friend Sarah.
She is doubly banned:
- wrong religion
- wrong country
Sarah, a woman, a Muslim, an Iraqi, worked in Baghdad as right hand man of Canon Andrew White, aka the Vicar of Baghdad, a Middle East peace negotiator. When not in Iraq, she ran his operations in Iraq.
Now she is based in Mosul, to where the Christians fled when they felt Baghdad was not safe, Minerva, their ancestral homeland, only for Mosul to be overrun by ISIS, the girls kidnapped, raped, sold on slave markets, the men if they did not convert, executed.
In Mosul she documents the damage inflicted on Mosul by ISIS, helps the girls who have been rescued from ISIS and the slave markets, runs a school for the children.
She is totally dependent on support from the West for her work, reliant on funding from her supporters in the US.
By signing his executive order, Donald Trump has banned her from the USA.
Bren Ortega Murphy (Professor at Loyola University Chicago):
From Christopher Murphy’s homily today on The Beatitudes, “Blessed is Sarah Ahmed. Though still in her twenties, she is caring for some of the most vulnerable people on earth. Sarah is the director of operations for a girls’ school run by the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East. We met Sarah when she was here studying through The Iraqi Student Project.
Although she is Muslim, her school works primarily with Christian girls fleeing the violence of ISIS. She works tirelessly, often in harsh and dangerous conditions to care for these refugees. Sarah is humble yet fierce in her care for others.Sarah is living the beatitudes.” As of yesterday, Sarah AK Ahmed is now banned from entering the United States.
Sarah risks her life every day on behalf of girls who escaped ISIS.
I have advised Sarah, do not despair, one door closes another door opens.
USA is not the only country in the world, grab the opportunity, visit other countries. Having been banned from USA, her support can only increase.
Now is the time to visit, give talks, she will get more support than she would have otherwise got in the past.
Be as Santiago in The Alchemist, read the signs.
I agree I suppose I can do that :(
It’s just when you built a life somewhere filled with family and friends and then you are told you can’t access them.
Let’s set up some talks, and invite me in and I will be coming. Deal?
What it says about US citizens is the need to act.
Crying over spilt milk helps no one.
A period of transition affords the opportunity of change.
Seize that opportunity.
Affordable health care for all.
A massive investment in a Green New Deal, takes US off dependency of fossil fuels from the Middle East. This will create real jobs.
Stop Keystone XL and North Dakota Access Pipeline.
Support native Americans at Standing Rock.
Stop weapon sales to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. And this also applies to UK.
Sign up to follow Michael Moore on twitter and facebook, join in his days of action, encourage friends and family to do the same.
Do as Michael Moore and I have proposed, clean out the corrupt Democrats, ordinary citizens follow the example of Spain, Madrid, Barcelona and A Coruña, seize control of Town Halls.
Evil only succeeds because good men stand idly by.
What will you say when in years to come, you are asked, what did you do during the Dark Days of the Trump Presidency?
