Oh, President Trump.
You just can’t help making yourself look like a fool.
Christians in the Middle-East have been executed in large numbers. We cannot allow this horror to continue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017
In the first place, Mr. President, you are once again using “alternative facts,” which the rest of the English speaking world calls “lies.” Christians have not been the main target of Islamic terrorists. That distinction goes to Muslims.
But that’s not the only way that you’ve made yourself look like the disorganized, impulsive adolescent that you are.
Your most recent Executive Order called a temporary halt to the acceptance of refugees from seven Muslim countries. You halted the arrival of desperate refugees from war ravaged Syria indefinitely. No matter how many pictures of shocked, bleeding, terrified children the people of the U.S. are shown, you decided that those kids and their parents are just too dangerous for us to accept into our country.
But you remembered all those good conservative Christians who voted for you, didn’t you? You decided that scared Christian families can come here, even if scared Muslims can’t.
We’ll put aside, for now, the whole question of just how many ways your decision violates the United States Constitution. There are entire teams of lawyers who are already working on that.
For now, though, let’s just focus on the story of one Syrian family and what happened to them last weekend when you pulled the trigger on your thoughtless plan before you informed the people who would have to carry it out.
This is the story of two Syrian brothers. They are Orthodox Christians, as are their wives and children. The two families were granted F-4 visas to enter the United States. These are the visas given to family members of American citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
There is a whole, long, complicated process that goes into the granting of these visas. People don’t just stroll up to the Embassy and explain that since Dad has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, they’re planning to move there, too. There is an entire, complex vetting system in place for this. You might even call it “extreme.” It can take years to get such a visa. In fact, this family waited 15 years to get theirs.
In any case, these two Syrian Christians, with wives and kids,were granted those precious f-4 visas. They left Lebanon on Friday to fly to Qatar, and then on to Philadelphia. Image the excitement, the nerves, the emotions they must have been feeling.
Meanwhile, their relatives in Pennsylvania were so excited to finally get to see them again. They had bought the families a house and fully furnished it.
Imagine how those people felt, Mr. Trump, when they were stopped by Customs Agents in Philadelphia who were trying to puzzle out the meaning of your last minute order.
These people were not Muslims. They were not refugees. They had all the proper paperwork to come to join their relatives in the U.S.
But in all the confusion of your thoughtless order, they were turned back, because they are Syrian. They weren’t allowed to call their relative who was on his way to get them at the airport. They weren’t allowed to speak to lawyers.
They were charged for the flight they were forced to take back to Qatar. Now the ACLU is working to try to figure out what happens next, and how to save them from returning to the ravages of war.
You look like a thoughtless, heartless, impulsive jerk here, Mr. President.
And in this case, looks are not deceiving.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
