What Trump’s Ban Means for Refugees
One week after his inauguration, President Trump is set to issue an executive order that will completely ban all refugees from all over the world from entering the United States for 120 days. Once admission restarts, he plans to cut the number of resettled refugees by more than half. Another order blocks immigration and visa applicants from the countries of Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, and Somalia for at least 30 days. Even more extreme, refugees from Syria are going to be banned indefinitely.
What do these regions have in common? They are all ravaged by war and political conflict, with citizens forced to abandon their homes and seek asylum. They are also Muslim-majority countries, making good the President’s long-standing campaign promise of a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
But exactly what will be newly accomplished by the widespread ban remains unclear. Refugees already undergo an incredibly rigorous vetting process to be able to enter the U.S., which has admitted around only 12,000 Syrian refugees in total since the 2011. By contrast, Germany accepted over 1 million refugees in 2015 alone.
President Trump’s impending ban defies our country’s endeavors to open its door to the most vulnerable; women and children, victims of violence, those escaping religious and political persecution. The United States is known as place of refuge and freedom, but the new president’s orders create a sense of alienation and division.
In light of this increased hostility against refugees, Slow Factory remains dedicated to humanizing the refugee crisis, inspiring unity instead of division. Partnering with ANERA, we fund education initiatives helping over 1.5 million Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Lebanon. We recently traveled to Lebanon for a photo shoot with students in the fashion program, young girls who embrace style and beauty with the same creativity and passion as teenagers in America. It’s not only their way to cope, it’s their dignity, and aspiration to spread hope, in place of hate.
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