EDITORIAL
The President of the United States’ executive order against migrants originating from seven Muslim-majority countries struck a blow this week, but mostly to ordinary citizens. To clever professionals now locked out of their adopted home, elderly grandparents trying to reunite with their families, even an Australian boy’s school trip: Donald. Said. No.
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‘Would you let strangers into your home?’ pro-Trump pundits cried. ‘Don’t you have the right to know who you’re letting in first?’
Well, yes, but us ordinary types, lacking for billions of dollars but not common courtesy, tend to do our ‘extreme vetting’ through more amiable means. They’re called social networks. Communities. Neighbours.
Besides, it is foolish to believe that a lock on passports from any country of origin will effectively keep out its criminals. Hello, internet. Is Mr Trump going to geo-block those seven countries, too?
Ostensibly, the executive order was an action against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, but ISIS (Daesh) is a multi-tentancled beast already suckered on to young minds through the world wide web.
There may be one or two held back at the borders that could cause that country grave, physical harm, but there are many, many more pumping out propaganda through remote means.
Worst of all, that executive order serves to further isolate and ‘ghetto-ise’ people of a faith already feared because of militant extremists.
And that’s not ‘great’.