6 APRIL 3, 2017

TRUMP’S TRAVELBAN

Foreign Policy • Map SkillsNATIONAL

Why President Donald Trump’s executive order halting immigration from six predominantly Muslim nations has generated so much debateBY PATRICIA SMITH

against the executive order. They

said that it targets Muslims. They

argued that the order violates several

things, including the First Amend-

ment, which guarantees freedom of

religion. Soon after the executive

order was issued, federal courts put

it on hold as lawsuits against it

worked their way through the courts.

In response to

the legal challenges,

Trump issued a revised

travel ban on March 6.

It was set to take effect

March 16. It removed

Iraq from the list of

banned countries.

Also, the revised exec-

utive order applies

only to new visa appli-

cants from the tar geted

countries. People with a U.S. visa

issued before March 16 can enter

the country. Refugees who were

scheduled to travel to the U.S. before

that date will also be allowed in.

Yet opponents of the order said

they planned to fight the new ver-

sion in court. They argue that it still

discriminates based on religion.

TERRORISM THREAT IN THE U.S.?Trump’s order has its roots in a cam-

paign promise. In December 2015,

he called for a “total and complete

shutdown” of Muslim immi gration.

That was his response to the threat

of radical Islamic terrorism.

Just days before Trump’s state-

ment, a Muslim-American gunman

killed 14 people in San Bernardino,

California. The shooter had said he

was acting on behalf of ISIS. The

idea of a Muslim immigration ban

appealed to many Americans who

were becoming increasingly fearful

about the threat of terrorist

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January, he believed he was close to

getting approval. That would let him

fly to the U.S. and begin a new life.

But his hopes were dashed, at

least for now. On January 27, Presi-

dent Donald Trump issued an

executive order. It temporarily

barred all refugees from entering the

U.S. The order also banned immigra-

tion of any kind for 90

days from seven major-

ity-Muslim countries:

Iran, Iraq, Libya, Soma-

lia, Sudan, Syria, and

Yemen. (Trump later

removed Iraq from the

list after that nation

agreed to cooperate on

vetting Iraqis entering

the U.S.)

Trump says the U.S.

needs time to toughen background

checks for people coming from the

six targeted countries—and all refu-

gees. He says that this is needed to

protect Americans from attacks by

terrorist groups, including ISIS (the

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).

THE BAN’S IMPACTAround the globe, refugees like

Mustafa and many other people

found their lives thrown into limbo

by the executive order. After it was

first signed in January, refugees,

immigrants, and other travelers

were detained at U.S. airports or

prevented from leaving their home

countries. (Those travelers included

permanent residents, and people

with legal visas to enter the U.S.)

People debated Trump’s action all

across the world. Some people gath-

ered at airports to protest the order.

Others said the ban made them feel

safer. Meanwhile, civil liberties

groups, as well as some state officials

and individuals, filed lawsuits

People in Seattle protested the

executive order after it was

issued in January.

WHO’S AFFECTED

Refugees

Immigrants

Tourists

Students

Workers

MUSTAFA is a 28-year-old

from Iraq. He once did con-

struction on American military

bases in his home country. That job

nearly cost him his life several years

ago. When extremist groups in his

neighborhood found out that he

had worked for the United States,

they attacked him as a traitor.

“I was beaten and shot and

knifed,” says Mustafa, who did not

want his last name published.

So he fled to nearby Lebanon and

applied for asylum in the U.S. Like

all refugees hoping to come here,

Mustafa underwent years of investi-

gations into his background. In

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8 APRIL 3, 2017

attacks on U.S. soil. Those fears

grew as terrorists staged a series of

attacks in Europe over the past year.

After taking office, Trump

changed his proposal. Rather than

ban all immigration by Muslims, he

focused on immigration from a

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handful of majority-Muslim

nations. Those nations, he says,

pose the biggest terrorist threat to

the U.S. “We want to ensure that we

are not admitting into our country

the very threats our soldiers are

fighting overseas,” Trump said.

People who support the travel

ban say that tightening immigration

rules will help prevent large-scale

attacks in the U.S. James Jay Cara-

fano is a security expert at the

Heritage Foundation in Washing-

ton, D.C. He sees the order as an

effort to “get ahead of the threat.”

As military pressure increases on

ISIS, “tens of thousands of foreign

fighters” will flee, Carafano says.

Some could try to come here, per-

haps posing as refugees. That is why,

he says, stronger security checks of

refugees entering the U.S. are crucial.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCESHowever, some lawmakers warn that

Trump’s order could leave the U.S.

more vulnerable instead of making

it more secure. They say it makes

Americans seem anti-Islam. That

would help radical groups like ISIS

attract more people to their cause.

“This executive order . . . will be

used as a recruitment tool by terror-

ist organizations,” says Democratic

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland.

“And it will make it harder to pre-

vent foreign fighters from joining

terrorist organizations.”

In addition, experts say, the

executive order may lead Mus-

lim countries to be less helpful in

fighting terrorism. Some of those

countries share information with

the U.S. about terrorism threats.

Critics also point out that no one

from the banned countries has been

involved in a deadly terrorist attack

against the U.S. in recent decades.

Yet several countries that have

been linked to terrorism in the U.S.,

including the September 11, 2001,

attacks, are not part of the ban.

Some people have speculated that

Trump left out certain nations, such

NATIONAL

TUNISIA

CHADNIGER

ALGERIA JORDAN

TURKEY

OMAN

ETHIOPIA

DJIBOUTI

QATAR

KENYA

TANZANIA

SOUTHSUDAN

ERITREA

U.A.E.SAUDIARABIA

ISRAEL

LEBANON

EGYPT KUWAIT

INDIANOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

ArabianSea

Black Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Persian Gulf

Caspian Sea

Area of detail

AFRICA

ASIA

0

0 300 MI

500 KM

Nations cited inMarch 6 executiveorderNational capitalCityContinent border

Red Sea

Tripoli

Mogadishu

Damascus

Beirut

Istanbul

SOMALIA

SYRIA IRAQIRAN

YEMEN

SUDAN

LIBYA

Sanaa

Tehran

Khartoum

Baghdad

EQUATOR

15°N

30°N

45°N

15°E

30°E 45°E

N

S

W E

SESW

NENWN

S

A F R I C A

E U R O P E A S I A

Two Views of the Travel Ban

Why has the cartoonist included a member of ISIS among people protesting tighter immigration rules?

What might be an unintended effect of President Trump’s travel ban, according to this cartoon?

as the United Arab Emirates,

because he has business ties there.

FEARS IN THE MUSLIM COMMUNITYOpponents of the travel ban say it

goes against America’s history as a

country that welcomes immigrants

and celebrates religious freedom.

The order does not apply to U.S.

citizens. But it has caused anxiety

among America’s 3 million Muslims.

Most Muslim Americans con-

demn violence and resent Muslims

being stereotyped as terrorists.

Nihad Awad of the Council on

American-Islamic Relations fears

JUNIOR.SCHOLASTIC.COM 9

1. What is the capital of Mustafa’s home country?

2. About how many miles separate that city and the capital of the nearby country Mustafa fled to?

3. Which labeled capital is closest to the equator?

4. Which body of water separates Sudan and Saudi Arabia?

5. Which labeled Asian countries are not part of the March 6 travel ban?

6. Which African countries share a border with two nations cited in the order?

7. Which sea separates Africa from Europe?

8. Which labeled city is farthest north?

9. What is the approximate latitude and longitude of that city?

10. Which capital is located at about 16°N, 33°E?

Map Skills

TUNISIA

CHADNIGER

ALGERIA JORDAN

TURKEY

OMAN

ETHIOPIA

DJIBOUTI

QATAR

KENYA

TANZANIA

SOUTHSUDAN

ERITREA

U.A.E.SAUDIARABIA

ISRAEL

LEBANON

EGYPT KUWAIT

INDIANOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

ArabianSea

Black Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Persian Gulf

Caspian Sea

Area of detail

AFRICA

ASIA

0

0 300 MI

500 KM

Nations cited inMarch 6 executiveorderNational capitalCityContinent border

Red Sea

Tripoli

Mogadishu

Damascus

Beirut

Istanbul

SOMALIA

SYRIA IRAQIRAN

YEMEN

SUDAN

LIBYA

Sanaa

Tehran

Khartoum

Baghdad

EQUATOR

15°N

30°N

45°N

15°E

30°E 45°E

N

S

W E

SESW

NENWN

S

A F R I C A

E U R O P E A S I A

Nations Under the Ban The March 6 executive order affects people coming to the

U.S. from the six predominantly Muslim countries shown below.

CORE QUESTION What are possible short- and long-term effects of the travel ban?

that the ban will add to negative

ideas about Muslims. The executive

order, he says, could cause an

“increase in hate crimes, discrimi-

nation, and bigotry against ordinary

law- abiding American Muslims.”

THE BAN’S FUTUREIt is unclear what is next for people

affected by the travel ban. Some

people who were turned back at

first did make their way to the U.S.

when the courts suspended the orig-

inal ban. Others may have lost their

chance. Certain visas, once can-

celed, cannot simply be renewed.

Whatever happens, the fight over

the ban shows how tricky it can be

to balance American ideals such as

equality and freedom with the need

for national security. Even law-

makers who oppose Trump’s order

agree that the U.S. must be better

equipped to combat terrorism.

“There is a real threat that this

nation faces from terrorism,” says

Cardin, “and our policy efforts must

address that threat.” ◆

With reporting by The New York Times

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