New Trump Executive Order Ushers In Travel Ban Part Deux

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After being humiliated by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Donald Trump went behind closed doors this week to sign a new executive order establishing a travel ban on people from selected foreign countries. Once again, the alleged justification for this embarrassment is a claim that immigrants from the designated Muslim majority countries are inherently dangerous individuals determined to come to America and slaughter its citizens.

Trump executive order travel ban

In a Trump administration which prides itself on taking bold action to counter the horrors of the Bowling Green Massacre and the situation in Sweden where immigrant youths are alleged to be involved in a crime wave of epic proportions, bold measures are deemed necessary to protect right thinking Americans from being dismembered by immigrants with long knives, beards, and dark skin. “We cannot compromise our nation’s security,” insists US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday.

New Travel Ban Same As Old Travel Ban

The new travel ban is much like the old one except that Iraqis are no longer on the list of prohibited visitors. Here are the relevant portions of the old ban and the new ban in a chart composed by Bloomberg.

executive order on new travel ban

While the administration tries to depict immigrants as violent and bloodthirsty people (Donald Trump has frequently characterized Mexicans as “murderers, drug dealers, and rapists.), multiple studies refute those claims. “There’s no way I can mess with the numbers to get a different conclusion,” Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, tells the New York Times.

Travel Ban Effect On Clean Tech

Some of you are getting restless wondering what any of this has to do with clean tech. The answer is, the challenges of creating a low or zero carbon world are many. Immigrants are essential for that research effort to be successful, but the US is sending an unmistakable signal to foreigners that they are no longer welcome in the US.

As a result, many of those creative minds will seek opportunities in other countries like Canada, China, the UK, and Germany. The damage to the US reputation as a mecca for entrepreneurs, physicians, researchers, and engineers will be incalculable and will last for decades. Already, travel sites like the Global Business Travel Association report interest in travelling to the US has dropped precipitously. GBTA estimates the US has lost business worth $185 million in the few short weeks since Trump became president.

Not Welcome Here

But it gets worse. Government officials are meddling with international travel for no other reason than to assert their power to do so. Last week, the Tibetan women’s soccer team was denied entry into the US to participate in a tournament in Dallas, saying the team had shown no good reason for the trip.

This week, Khizri Khan, a naturalized US citizen for 30 years, cancelled a planned talk in Toronto on “tolerance, understanding, unity and the rule of law” after the organizers were notified that his travel status was “under review.” In a statement released by the organization, Khan said, “This turn of events is not just of deep concern to me but to all my fellow Americans who cherish our freedom to travel abroad.” Exactly who is reviewing his travel status is not clear at this time.

Khan is the father of U.S. Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan, who died while serving in Iraq in 2004. He became famous when he offered to let Donald Trump read a copy of the Constitution. Trump characterized that action as a “vicious attack” by Khan.

To listen to Trump and his henchmen, Americans are a bunch of quaking, fear-filled weaklings who huddle under the covers at night. The nation with more guns in private hands than all the rest of the world combined is petrified of young children who have endured unspeakable horrors in war-torn Syria.

Talking The Totalitarian Talk

The Trump modus operandi is to make enemies of anyone who dares challenge his authority. A poem attributed to Martin Niemōller reads,

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . “

Americans may easily forget history, but others have longer memories. Many are not willing to risk coming to America for fear of repression and incarceration. And who can blame them? The official policy of the US government is to suspect everyone, especially Muslims.

A Clear And Present Danger

The executive order and travel ban will be challenged in court, but that is almost irrelevant. America has sent a clear message to the world at large that says “STAY OUT! You are not welcome here.” The world is hearing that message loud and clear and America will be impoverished economically, culturally, and scientifically for decades to come because of it.

The Trump travel ban is a clear and present danger to America’s long standing tradition as a technology leader and crucible of scientific research.

Source: Bloomberg

 


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Steve Hanley

Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Florida or anywhere else The Force may lead him. He is proud to be "woke" and doesn't really give a damn why the glass broke. He believes passionately in what Socrates said 3000 years ago: "The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new." You can follow him on Substack and LinkedIn but not on Fakebook or any social media platforms controlled by narcissistic yahoos.

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