SANTA ANA COLLEGE el Don/eldonnews.org • MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017
TRAVEL BAN
The SAC community speaks out on President Trump’s signing of executive
orders that deny entry to people from several countries
STORY BY NATALIE JAMES
More than a month after the release of his original travel ban, Pres-
ident Donald J. Trump signed a new, softer, executive order on travel
and immigration March 6.
Trump’s revised order — a departure from his original ban, which
barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days
and refugees for 120 days, but indefinitely banned those coming from
Syria — was drafted to survive court challenges, White House Press
Secretary Sean Spicer said. The original travel ban was overturned in
district court.
“As we’ve always maintained, the executive order was fully lawful in
the first place, and we would have won the related legal cases on the
merits,” said Spicer. “But rather than leave America’s security in limbo
while the litigation dragged on … the president acted to protect the
national security by issuing a new executive order that addresses the
court’s concerns, some of which merely involve clarifying the intent of
the original executive order.”
In response, California joined a lawsuit with the state of Hawaii
Monday challenging Trump’s order.
“Last month, our courts put a lid on the unconstitutional and
un-American Trump Muslim travel ban because Americans stood
up and demanded it. The victory for lawful permanent residents and
current visa holders was welcome news for everyone, especially the
victims’ families. But the fight for fair and lawful treatment of all who
would seek permission to enter our country is not over,” California
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a prepared statement.
Gov. Jerry Brown said it more forcefully in his January State of the
State Address: “California is not turning back. Not now, not ever.”
The new travel ban is scheduled to take effect Thursday. The main
points of the order remain intact. Refugees will be banned for four
months, and travel from six Muslim-majority countries will be
banned for three months.
Changes include the removal of Iraq from the list of affected coun-
tries. Wording within the original executive order that gave priority to
religious minorities over other refugees, after the four-month refugee
ban was also removed. Additionally, Syrian refugees will be included
in the four-month ban instead of being barred indefinitely.
The revised order also clarified the status of valid green card and
visa holders from the banned countries. Green card holders and citi-
zens from the six countries whose visas were approved before March 6
will be allowed entry to the U.S.
Even with these changes, further legal challenges are expected to
follow the release of the revised travel ban.
Trump originally announced plans for a new version on Feb. 16, a
week after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ unanimous decision
on Feb. 9 to uphold a ruling by a federal district judge that blocked
parts of the ban.
During his speech to Congress, Trump reaffirmed his promise to
the American people to take “strong measures to protect our nation
from radical Islamic terrorism.” His words echoed his initial reasons
for signing the travel ban. “According to data provided by the Depart-
ment of Justice,” he said, “the vast majority of individuals convicted of
terrorism and terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from
outside of our country.”
At Santa Ana College, the January executive order caused some con-
fusion among international students.
A student from one of the seven countries approached International
Student Program Specialist Junko Ishikawa shortly after the order was
released, she said.
“The student was concerned that their visa would be revoked,” Ishi-
kawa said. Ishikawa assured the student that the visa would not be
affected by the order.
Widespread confusion and outrage followed the controversial
travel ban, as travelers from the seven affected countries were caught
en route to the United States and subsequently detained in airports
around the country. When it was introduced, it was unclear whether
even a valid visa or green card was enough to assure entry into the
United States.
Thousands gathered at international airports across the country to
protest what was quickly labeled a “Muslim ban.”
Although not personally affected, some SAC students still expressed
concerns about the restrictions.
“Donald Trump needs to do something to get us together, not sepa-
rate families and separate religions,” Mayan Castelan, an occupational
therapy major, said.
SAC Business Professor Ali Kowsari is Iranian-American and
understands the power that the president has to enact immigration
policies, but he has reservations about the original order.
“Could this have been done in a better way? Absolutely. Could this
have been delayed for a couple days to make sure everybody was on
board and they weren’t in the air finding out about this? Of course,”
Kowsari said. Comparing the situation to a school setting he said, “I’m
not going to walk into a classroom and throw a hundred-point, 10
percent of the class, pop quiz at somebody.”
Psychology major Ricardo Barragan said the ban is not what the U.S.
stands for.
“I don’t know why we would ban people when we’re all immigrants,”
Barragan said. “It feels like we’re taking a step back from the freedoms
that make our country great.”
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