Come one, come all. Or not, as it would appear under the helm of Trump in this unique presidency. There are many policies and plans that Trump plans to initiate over the next four years to complete his vision. From walls along the Mexican border, to the abolishing of Obamacare. The most controversial and heated policy he has put forth is the immigrant ban.

Let’s get the facts right, the ban is a restraint on immigrants and therefore refugees to enter the United States from six specific countries. Libya, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Somalia. This is in light of Trump determining that the majority of terrorism is centralized, and the main source in those countries, despite recent data proving that some of the countries not banned, pose more of a threat. It’s as if Trump assigned these countries as the ones to be blocked out of instinct, arbitrary reaction, or pure discrimination. You be the judge.   

Surprisingly enough, this isn’t even the first order of the ban. Trump opted to sign a second order, removing Iraq from the hit list of countries six weeks after the original. It also reinstates the same temporary blanket ban on ALL refugees. The architect of this new version of the ban, Trump’s second handyman, if you will, in this instance was Stephen Miller. His reasoning for this was to cover the legal side of the ban, resolving all technical issues the courts had, whilst still implementing all the policies in the first order. It takes effect March 16th, with another clause being the exemption of citizens linked to the six banned countries who are legal US permanent residents or have valid visas to enter the US. All in the aim to “bolster the nation’s security and our allies” as per a recent article in The Guardian.

We asked fellow school mates and teachers for their thoughts on the ban. Here’s what we found.  Nicholas Elish, a senior, said: “I believe that, in all honesty, the ban is a good idea. However, I feel strongly that the United States should shift away from its’ global policy as a whole, and should instead focus on being more isolated and fixing our own internal problems first. Therefore, I would not simply impose extreme vetting of people from only 6 countries, but instead apply this closing of doors to countries worldwide.”

Freshman Alliyah Logan said, “The problem is the countries he banned didn’t really have a rate of terrorism and some he didn’t ban had a lot. You can’t ban a religion, cause that’s what America isn’t based off of. The first amendment clearly states that you are free of religion, and for him (Trump) to isolate one religion, I think IT IS downright disrespectful and unsocial. Yea…. They should work that on that in Congress. If you wanted to ban certain people from certain countries or groups, you should hand in hand target the countries with STATISTICALLY the most amount of terrorism or violence in and around their country. Trump missed that boat. Not for the sake of promoting your business/pride, or because you have a problem with a certain groups of people. YOU must do what’s in the best wishes of the country, for the safety of all Americans!”

The question is glaring, does this ban contradict the very makeup and reputation that America is made up of immigrants? Elias Valdez, a senior, said this on the matter: “It is contradictory that the president decided to not allow immigration when the country is made up of immigrant and was built by them too. No matter if you were born here or not, we were all immigrants at some point.”

Confusion is so high that the people aware or unaware of the countries banned are staggering. “I know the countries are based in the Middle East, but that’s about that, not which countries are banned specifically.” senior Katherine Javier said in a puzzled state.

Aaliyah Logan is keeping abreast of the issue: “Yea, I know the countries Trump banned.” It wouldn’t be complete without a few that didn’t know at all, any shape or form of the ban’s ramifications.

“You know what, I really forgot the countries man. What were they again, hmmm?” senior Corey Pepaj projected hesitantly.

Additionally, when asked on the impact this ban will have on the United States population in the next few years (5-10 year range), History teacher, Mr. Gibbons stated: “Probably not much. I think our population will continue to grow and the overall percentages of this country will continue on their current trend.”

Senior Raekwon Petty, another senior offered a suggestion as an alternative to the ban: “Another way to make the country safe would be to make backup checks stronger, so it is almost impossible for an enemy of the country to enter.”

Clearly, this ban has swung a few heads and left vast amounts of people on tilt. Despite all the drama, outrage, or confusion that has arisen, the message really needs to come across is that the immigration system, (immigrants in particular), aren’t the problem! It’s the immigrants that are just misunderstood due to a discriminatory reputation set by society. Realize that and maybe true change will follow suit.