US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order issuing a temporary ban on most refugees, as well as one suspending visas for people from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
According to unnamed US aides and experts, Trump is expected to sign the first of these orders on Wednesday (US time).
The multi-month ban will reportedly affect all refugees except for religious minorities escaping persecution (although why they are the exception is not immediately clear) and is only meant to be temporary, until the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security can institute tougher vetting processes.
The news follows Trump’s not-at-all terrifying promise that tomorrow will be a “big day [for] NATIONAL SECURITY” that will include constructing his infamously stupid wall.
Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
And while it’s only meant to be a temporary ban, this notion of ‘institutionalised racism but only for a little while’ follows Trump’s fool-proof idea to ban Muslims “until we find out what’s going on,” which he has since reworked into banning people from these specific, Islamic countries.
Because meeting the global social and religious persecution of Muslims that’s inarguably contributed to pockets of radicalisation with yet more racism is definitely going to end well.
Presumably, the temporary ban will also quash Australia’s suspiciously-optimistic resettlement plan to resettle refugees on Manus Island and Nauru in America, as, like, most of the people we’re torturing were already fleeing conflicts in those places.
The Australian government is yet to respond to this news, but the reaction from refugee activists has naturally been depressing.
Disappointing but unsurprising. @TurnbullMalcolm must #CloseTheCamps and #BringThemHere https://t.co/KFagCEBziP
— Shane Bazzi (@shanebazzi) January 25, 2017
This is #WhiteSupremacy and #Fascism in action. I’ll update you on what it means for refugees on Nauru & Manus once I know more. Sickening. https://t.co/xvQ4igIhI4
— Kon Karapanagiotidis (@Kon__K) January 25, 2017
Well, back to the drawing board for old Dutters and co. If only there was a safe, wealthy country around these parts who could meet their goddamn human rights obligation and welcome these people.
Source: ABC.
Photo: Getty.
