On January 27 of this year President Donald J. Trump signed into law Executive Order 13769 otherwise known as the Trump Travel Ban. The President’s order calls to suspend the travel to our country by peoples from the states of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. While the majority of these countries’ populations are Muslim the Trump administration has insisted that this is not a ban on Muslims but rather a measure taken to prevent individuals from terrorist prone nations gaining unfettered access to the American interrior. Regardless of intent, President Trump’s Executive Order has sparked international controversy with protests and debates sparking up around it like wild fire.

As part of his “The First 100 Days” plan The President has followed through on one of his signature campaign promises and put into effect a restriction on peoples from the states of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from coming into the country. While each of these nations are Muslim majority, there does exist within them peoples of other faiths. In order to assure the people that this is not a religious ban President Trump has stated explicitly “to be clear, this is not a Muslim ban,” a statement which has been reiterated by those within and close to his administration. In regards as to what function Executive Order 13769 performs and its intentions, President Trump remarked “Everybody is arguing whether or not it is a BAN. Call it what you want, it is about keeping bad people (with bad intentions) out of country!”  The Commander-in-Chief also justified the sudden creation of his order by stating “If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the “bad” would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad “dudes” out there!” The President has claimed that former President Obama issued a similar ban for six months during 2011 although according to some news outlets this appears to be false. However the order plays out on the global theater, it seems that Trump’s intentions are to work to keep the country safe and follow through on his 100 Day plan that he promised his voters. Whether or not this order will help our country remains to be seen.

Executive Order 13769 has been met with a significant amount of backlash since its signing. Two prominent figures who have voiced their distaste for the order are republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. In a joint statement the two senators stated “This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country.”  They also stated their concern in that “[they were] particularly concerned by reports that this order went into effect with little to no consultation with the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security.” The president responded to these allegations via two twitter posts remarking “The joint statement of former presidential candidates John McCain & Lindsey Graham is wrong – they are sadly weak on immigration. The two Senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal immigration and border security instead of always looking to start World War III.” President Trump and his administration have also repeatedly stated that this is not a ban specifically on Muslims and that should they have announced the order then it would cause an influx in possible terrorist immigration. The Presidents executive order has also been met with backlash from the international community. After being invited for a state visit by the British Government protests sprung up all around the United Kingdom with a petition being formed against Trump visiting in a state capacity on the British Parliament’s website. To date the petition has gathered 1,825,223 signatures.

At the time of writing Executive Order 13769 has been in effect for seven days and has been met with a wide variety of reactions from both the domestic and foreign communities. Some view the order as a helpful measure in protecting the country and its people while others see it as infringing on the rights of others and going against American ideals. It is not unusual for a President to deal with backlash from those who do not necessarily agree with him because of the fact we live in a country that protects its people’s rights to free speech, protest, and press. On the other hand, if this order, along with his other bold moves during his first two weeks, serve as an indicator, it is clear that the Trump presidency will not be lacking in controversy.

Sources:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=587F2A2D-8A47-48F7-9045-CF30F0A77889

http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/01/30/hannity-celebrities-mainstream-media-obama-schumer-fake-news-trump-immigration-ban

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/31/512439121/trumps-executive-order-on-immigration-annotated

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/21/463846286/these-changes-to-tighten-visa-waiver-program-are-now-in-effect

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/01/29/protecting-nation-foreign-terrorist-entry-united-states

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/donald-trump-executive-order-statement/

http://www.snopes.com/president-obama-ban-muslims-2011/