The Mouth of a Shark

no one leaves home unless

home is the mouth of a shark.

you only run for the border

when you see the whole city

running as well.

-Warsan Shire, “Home”

Americans harmed/killed by refugees from countries included in President Trump’s ban list:

0

Chances of a U.S citizen/resident dying in an attack by a foreign-born terrorist:

0.00003%

Yearly deaths caused by traffic accidents:

37,000

Americans killed yearly by Muslim extremists since 9/11:

9

Iraqi/ Syrian civilians killed by Muslim extremists in the past year:

250,000

Source: CNN

Keeping the nation’s population safe is the utmost duty of any state leader. However, the steps adopted by President Trump to ensure Americans’ safety are not only unconstitutional but also dangerous in the long term. After Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order banning immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries, hundreds of Muslim Americans–permanent residents and citizens alike –were held in airports nationwide. In some cases, permanent residents were deported. This act is unconstitutional since sections 212 and 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act state that a permanent resident has the right to live permanently in the U.S., provided they have not committed any major crime. Therefore, what TSA did nationwide, last week, was unconstitutional.

According to President Trump, the West is the greatest enemy of Muslim extremist organizations such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, Taliban etc. However, said terrorist organizations do not just abhor Christians, but anyone with a set of ideology that does not comply or align with their set of radical beliefs, including other Muslims in the region. Based on the statistics listed at the beginning of the article, it can be inferred that no one is more hurt by these terrorists than the Muslims in the Middle East; no one is more adversely affected by their barbaric agenda than everyday Muslims in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia, and no one wants to see these radical terrorist groups defeated more than Muslims.

Civilians of these nations are drained, tired of having to live under conditions where getting raped by a gang of men is–at this point–disturbingly routine. It is disheartening to comprehend that people live under such dire conditions where each day is a bag full of unpredictabilities. It is unfair and unjust that these people have to live under such tyranny. More disheartening is the demonization of refugees from these countries as they try to save their lives by relocating. As Warsan Shire puts it in her poem “Home:” “no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.”

As the so-called most charitable people in the world, and as a nation that reintroduced liberating ideas like those of the free market and democracy to the modern world, it is our utmost duty to help the helpless. It is our utmost duty as a leading nation of the free world to help these refugees who have seen far more cruelty from life than one needs to see. It is our utmost duty to defeat Islamic extremism; but vilifying the everyday Muslim is not the way to victory, only to alienation and undue prejudice. Trump’s immigration ban vilifies the average Muslim by equating him/her with terrorism and this practice will not help us defeat ISIS. Continuing with this tactic will only further terrorist agendas and solidify their first principle of indoctrination: “the West is evil, the West dislikes you; therefore, you should join our cause.” In the long term, the continuation of this line of thought and policy will only further the reach of dangerous radicalism and we will not be able to defeat this evil entity.

If we can discern the difference between moderate Christians and Westboro churchgoers, then we must be able to differentiate an everyday Muslim from a member of ISIS. When we accomplish this, then we will be a step closer to defeating Islamic terrorism. It should be the whole world against radical terrorism and Islamic extremism, not the whole world against Islam–and yes, there is a major difference.

On the other hand, I believe that vetting is an absolute necessity for ensuring the safety of America, but the vetting process should be made smoother and more organized. Subsequently, banning an entire flock of immigrants from majority-Muslim countries looks more like a “Muslim ban” than “thoughtful foreign policy”. It is indubitable that religious extremism in any form is lethal. Undoubtedly Islamic extremism is a salient issue and a major point of concern for the whole world. Yet the world is not just the West, and more than anyone else, Islamic extremists threaten the everyday Muslim living in the Middle East. These extremists target their own people for not following in the footsteps of their radical religious beliefs. Therefore,as leaders of the free world, the United States and its citizens bear a significant responsibility in providing safety for the refugees. We must help refugees affected by radical Islam in the Middle East. Humanity must prevail over the barbarism proposed by the extremists.