A temporary travel ban on Muslim Immigrants

04 Mar A temporary travel ban on Muslim Immigrants

Immigration is making to the top of the issues being discussed worldwide. Immigration, its effects, aftermath and counter effects have bordered many nations within itself. The plight of ‘illegal immigrants’ is a controversial issue in this global village which is yet to constrict into the literal terms of a ‘global village.’

Immigration once used to be a tool to exchange social, cultural & political existences, through rapidly changing times and fast-pacing growth of the world; the comprehension of the term has changed drastically. Immigration is now for the namesake. The threat of crime, insecurity of native people and that of terrorism has got attached to it more prevalently in the world today.

A large scale inter and/ or intracontinental immigration of people brings in a substantial difference in the contemporary situations of any country. The issues like those of citizenship attainment, job opportunities, prioritization by the government, grants of rights, freedom of movement, medical allowances, study aid and a list of things come into the incredible picture.

Superpowers like the US is a standing bearer of a large population of immigrants stepping into the nation. According to research by Pew Research Centre, the foreign-born population that stays in the US reached a record of 43.7 million in 2016.

The US, since the past few months has been making serious efforts to limit both legal and illegal immigration. Last year, thousands of military troops were ordered by the US government at the border to “intercept” the so-called invasion of migrants into the US.

To count the steps further, on October 29, 2018, it was declared that the administration would try out an executive order to put an end to the birthright citizenship for those children who are born in the US to immigrant parents.

Executive Order 13769 was passed by President Donald Trump by the name Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States usually referred to as the Muslim ban or the travel ban.

• It suspended the US Refugee Admission Program for 120 days.
• For 90 days, it restricted the admission of citizens from 9 different nations.
• Globally, the order was condemned by many people while some supported the move.

This was not the first time that such a move had taken place. Former US President Obama did somewhat similar action in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months. Obama had stated that “the order did not target religion and that there are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim and are not affected by the order”. This brings us back to the question of banning Muslim terrorists until government improves its ability to screen out potential terrorists.

The US has always been a land of immigrants. An economy that would flourish more and more with greater manpower and skilled labor. But then again, the question of having skilled and productive ‘immigrants’ comes into being.

To screen out the potential terrorists, the government carries out the process called vetting. However, this has seen a tremendous failure, several times. From 2002 to 2016, the vetting system failed and permitted the entry of 1 radicalized terrorist for every 29 million visa or status approvals. This rate was 84% lower than the 15- year period that led to the 9/11 attacks. It was reported that only 1 out of 13 (post 9/11) vetting failures led to a deadly attack in the States. This further notified that 1 for every 379 million visa or status approvals from 2002 to 2016 were dangerous terrorists. A terrorism vetting failure may occur when an outsider is given entry to the US who either had a previous terrorist connection and/ or who later committed a terror attack which includes support for terrorist groups. However, the failure in the vetting system was 99.5 % lower than the period from 1987- 2001.

Doesn’t this indicate that the US already has “extreme” tactics and gatekeeping methods to handle the challenge of immigrant- borne terrorism? Spreading across a word that would put a strong check and an eye on ‘all’ the Muslims, irrespective of whether they are innocent or not is a big deal for humanity. What are your thoughts? Should Muslim immigrants be banned from entering the country until the government improves its ability to screen out potential terrorists?