New Orleans Hey, good news Muslim brothers and sisters. President-elect Trump’s tweet about Germany claiming how right he was all along to argue for refusing to allow any more Muslims in the country was rephrased by his team at the southern White House in Florida. They claim, oh, no, not everyone, just the Muslims from countries which are hotbeds of terrorism. Ok, I hope that’s clear to everybody.
But, we have to wonder just how many countries that might exclude?
Take the fact that his latest outburst was prompted by an incident in Germany by someone originally from Tunisia. Does that mean Tunisians who are Muslims are all barred or does that mean Germans who are also Muslims are barred?
Take France and Belgium where there have been terrorist incidents over recent years triggered by individuals with roots in the Middle East, but citizenship in these countries. Does Trump mean to exclude all French Muslims or only those from all of the North African countries like Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, and the like? Or, what the heck, all the French! Add Great Britain to the list, we’ve had Muslims involved in terrorist incidents even in the United States with connections there, and of course remember 9/11, Saudi Arabians surely will trigger separate screening and a rough road towards entering the United States, no matter how much money they spend here.
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. Are they good? Now, Turkey has had one incident after another including a recent assassination of a Russian ambassador, are we barring all of them as well?
Russia has been involved in an internal civil war with its ethnic and Muslim population, and there have been numerous terrorist acts. Are Russian Muslims also going to be barred? How about China, they have some internal issues along the same lines? Ivanka, bar the gate, right?
Syria, Jordan, and the like can forget about visiting the United States, and I’m not sure what Trump would have passport control do about Palestinians from whatever country is willing to claim them. Cross them off the list, right?
And, what about Americans? If any US Muslims visit family or friends in any of these countries in Europe, Africa, or Asia, will they be able to come back, and if so, at what cost.
What template is the Trump team following? Are they reviewing the playbook for handling the comings and goings of Japanese during War World II? That worked out well for everyone didn’t it. Or maybe North Korea is the model that appeals: just don’t let anyone in or out.
Trump team, let the rest of us know when anything even remotely sounds like a plan, rather than more hot air triggering climate change every time the President-elect speaks or tweets.