On Jan. 27 President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for a temporary travel ban on citizens and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States. Since then there has been widespread confusion as to the legality and intention of the implementation of the ban. A temporary stay order by Federal Judge James Robart halted the executive order after which the Department of Homeland Security suspended its implementation and returned to “business as usual” until further notice.
On Thursday Feb. 9 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in a 3-0 unanimous decision upheld the stay order after the government failed to prove an increased national security risk from the seven countries on the travel ban list. President Trump has since lashed out referring to the courts as making “a political decision.”
Meanwhile in response to the executive order mosques and churches have held open houses in order to write letters to officials, hold interfaith vigils, and dispel misinformation about Islam. Civil rights advocacy groups such as the Council of American-Islamic Relations have used innovative ways such as Facebook live to answer the questions of anxious citizens and immigrants. Activists, community leaders, and families have joined often spontaneous protests on the streets, college campuses, and in airports alongside those from all religious and ethnic backgrounds. Political Action Committees have held emergency town hall meetings with officials and immigration lawyers.
And a coalition of Muslims have even filed their own lawsuit against the President’s executive order deeming it unconstitutional.
Protests against the executive order are also taking place in Washington D.C. On Jan. 30 the Democratic Party led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) protested the ban outside the Supreme Court. And dozens of Republicans have also spoken out against President Trump’s controversial executive order.
While speaking to leaders from the Pakistani American Community on a special conference call Wednesday Feb. 8 organized by the Pakistani American Political Action Committee (PAKPAC)Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who has served four years on the Foreign Relations Committee and over a decade on the House Foreign Affairs committee, stated that the executive order was “unacceptable” especially because of the message it sends to America’s allies who are fighting terrorism.
A vocal critic of President Trump since his candidacy, Senator Jeff Flake has been targeted directly by President Trump and by Breitbart, a right wing newsgroup, for being weak on immigration. And although Senator Flake believes the executive order may be declared “constitutional” by the Supreme Court he does not think that the order is particularly wise.
There has been much speculation as to the reason behind the selection of the seven countries on the travel ban list. Senator Flake stated that the list of seven countries was not gathered from the intelligence community or by President Obama but instead was what he called a “haphazard” list put together by Congress as a reaction to the San Bernardino terror attack which simply “…doesn’t make much sense.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the bill that was put forward after the San Bernardino attack restricted the visa waiver program that allowed citizens of 38 countries to travel without a visa to the United States. Flake explained that at the time the Obama administration agreed to the bill only because the administration was concerned that Congress may do away with the refugee program altogether.
Though Senator Flake believes “extreme vetting” should take place, and many argue it already does, he does not believe the restrictions or ban should apply to any specific country. When asked why there are not more Republicans coming forward to oppose the executive order he explained, “…you want to support the head of your party, it’s a natural instinct. In my case I will support him when he is doing something right.”
The Senator also gave a personal account of his reaction when he heard of the Executive order. “I immediately thought of my father-in-law who in early November of last year suffered a ruptured aorta…he was only saved by the heroic efforts of a doctor who performed 11 hours of surgery and then another doctor who took over for four more hours of surgery…one was from Lebanon and another from Afghanistan. I thought at that point if such a ban was extended to other Muslim majority countries my father-in-law would not be alive today,” he said.
Citizens of various backgrounds are increasingly seeing the importance of being politically engaged and in direct touch with their elected officials. Political Action groups such as PAKPAC and Emerge USA are choosing to stay innovative and bipartisan in order to have elected officials court them for their votes and much needed donations. Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, who is on the Foreign Affairs community and Homeland Security committee also spoke to PAKPAC community members and reiterated that terrorism is not a regional threat and excluding others is not the way to make America safer.
Since President Trump campaigned on enforcing a “…complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” many have expressed concern regarding rumours of expanding the list to include countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Egypt. Both the White House Chief of Staff ReincePriebus and Rudy Giuliani have hinted at the ban’s expansion. At the same time officials in Pakistan have reiterated they have received personal reassurances from the Trump Administration that they do not plan to take such drastic measures towards Pakistan.
As Senator Flake mentioned it would be counterproductive to alienate America’s biggest allies in the war against terrorism. In the meantime, President Trump will now either take his fight to enforce the executive order to the Supreme Court or may look towards the legislative branch to pass a more comprehensive bill for the vetting of refugees and immigrants that is not discriminatory based on religion or nationality. He has said he will releasing a new immigration order later this week.
Riffat Chughtai, a proud grandmother, healthcare specialist and President of PAKPAC stressed, “…the Pakistani American Diaspora is rapidly growing […and becoming] increasingly politically active. We hope you will share our discussion tonight with your colleagues on Capitol Hill and the Republican leadership,” she aptly reminded Senator Jeff Flake who will be up for reelection soon.
Continued communication and relationship building with both Democrats and Republicans is critical in order to protect the interests of the Pakistani American community and promote good governance and security for Pakistan as well. This will continue to improve US-Pakistan relations which will be especially important during the unpredictable Presidency of Donald Trump.
Meriam Sabih is a freelance journalist and former contributor for Al Jazeera America. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Political Science at Lehigh University. She can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow her on twitter @meriamsabih