The Truth about Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban

Debbie Young

Despite the knee-jerk reaction from the left on President Trump’s “racist” immigration policy, the travel ban has nothing to do with Islamophobia, Deroy, Murdock writes in NRO.

… these travel restrictions have nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with shielding the United States from the citizens of terrorist-infested countries that cannot or will not help U.S. officials vet their own nationals who want to enter America.

Since December 2015, individuals traveling from “countries of concern” into the U.S. have faced increased scrutiny. But here’s the thing:

(1) Donald Trump was not president in 2015.

2) The seven Muslim-majority countries targeted in President Trump’s executive order on immigration were initially identified as “countries of concern” under the Obama administration.

A genuine, hate-fueled Muslim ban would include all or most of Earth’s 51 majority-Muslim nations. In fact, a grand total of five majority-Muslim countries are restricted: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

Mr. Murdock further notes how Chief Justice John Roberts’s majority opinion vanquishes the Left’s “anti-Muslim bigotry” narrative.

Trump’s “policy covers just 8 percent of the world’s Muslim population,” the chief justice observed. A truly Islamophobic reform surely would try harder. Neither Indonesia nor Pakistan is on this list. To detest Muslims yet exclude Islam’s two most populous countries is as absurd as hating Francophones and consequently restricting travelers from Haiti and Togo but welcoming Frenchmen and Canadians.
Three Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Sudan, and Chad — have been removed from the list of covered countries.” Indeed, they were unbanned after harmonizing their safety protocols with Washington’s.
The entry restrictions on Muslim-majority nations are limited to countries that were previously designated by Congress or prior administrations as posing national security risks.”