No ban on Saudi immigrants, President Trump?
Every day for a week, we’ve woken up to the latest “damage report” from Washington, D.C. Friday did not disappoint as President Trump picked Holocaust Remembrance Day to ban Muslims from certain countries from entering the United States. (Not by coincidence, many think that’s because of adviser Stephen Bannon’s white-nationalist influence.)
Trump’s latest action launched airports into chaos and prompted protests around the country. Trump cited 9/11 numerous times in the executive order but the ban did not apply to Saudi Arabia, home of Wahhabism (extreme Islam) and, not coincidentally, a place where Trump has done business.
Almost all 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, but Saudis can still come and go freely. Iraqi interpreters who saved lives of U.S. troops are no longer welcome. Syrian families, displaced by a horrific war, vetted in a 20-step process, are not welcome either.
This is no longer about politics or the ideological divide. This is about basic human decency. But we’ve known for a long time that Trump fails that test.
Krisztina Mendonca, Oakhurst
This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 11:43 AM with the headline "No ban on Saudi immigrants, President Trump?."