Holocaust Remembrance Day in America

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the "Greatest President for Jobs That God Ever Created" turned his attention away from #BAHA (Buying American Hiring American) and trying to figure out how to pay for The Wall, and trying to figure out who to pester to come up with bigger numbers on the size of the crowd that watched his inaugural, and set his sights on immigration and refugees.

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, President Trump issued an Executive Order called Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States.

Here are a handful of terms of the order; I've not included the ones that are designed for identification purposes, such as biometric exit /entry, modernizing the records and documentation processes and similar sections that specifically address 'security.

In order to protect Americans, the United States must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles.  The United States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution or those who would place violent ideologies over American law. In addition, the Unites States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including "honor" killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practices religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Whenever did we start presuming that a foreigner would have even read the US Constitution? Did we forget about the Statue of Liberty as the beacon of hope and freedom, the iconic personification of the American Dream? Because I think that's what foreigners are going to point to as their understanding of what we as Americans stand for. They're considerably less likely to pull out a hidden copy of the Constitution. I mean, think about it:

• How many Americans have seen or read the Constitutions of any other countries, for any reason?
• How many Americans  have read our own Constitution outside the 27 words included in the only Amendment that matters? 
• How many Americans are out there pushing legislation for the codified right to oppress Americans of race, gender and sexual orientation? 
• How many American religious leaders are out there politicizing (oops, I meant preaching, I meant to say preaching) the fight against gays?  
• How many Americans are there out there, right now, supporting 'therapies' to un-gay people? 
• How many American politicians are out there, right now, oppressing Americans by stripping away their access to medical care or to the voting booth?

How long are we going to turn a blind eye to this kind of un-American behavior (often done under the guise of Christian beliefs) committed against our neighbors, friends, and family? Or is that all OK, because it's people who profess to be Christians doing it? Never mind, don't answer me. 

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order formalizing a process which will allow us to prioritize which refugees we allow into the country based on a person's faith, once we resume allowing refugees into the country - that program, USRAP, has been suspended for 120 days as part of this order.  

Upon the resumption of USRAP admissions, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, is further directed to make changes, to the extent permitted by law, to prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual's country of nationality. Where necessary and appropriate, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security shall recommend legislation to the President that would assist such prioritization. 

Two refugee children looking for a pathway to freedom, looking to live, and we'll leave the Muslim child behind, perhaps to die, but take the Christian child. I'm just going to leave that one right there.

But wait. There's more.

To temporarily reduce investigative burdens on relevant agencies during the review period described in subsection (a) of this section, to ensure the proper review and maximum utilization of available resources for the screening of foreign nationals, and to ensure that adequate standards are established to prevent infiltration by foreign terrorists or criminals, pursuant to section 212(f) of the INA, 8 USC 1182(f), I hereby proclaim that the immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens from countries referred to in section 217(a)(12) of the INA, 8 USC 1187(a)(12), would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and I hereby suspend entry into the United States, as immigrants and nonimmigrants, of such persons for 90 days from the date of this order (excluding those foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3 and G-4 visas).

In case it's unclear, this means that people who already hold visas or green cards allowing them to be in the United States - people who live here, work here, raise their children here, pay taxes here, participate in our society, maybe save lives as doctors or volunteer as first responders, participate in neighborhood watch groups, and act as damn fine citizens, better than many of our own, will not be allowed to return home - here - if they are from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. 

And let it be noted that, while the Executive Order began with a mention of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. People from those countries? They're welcomed here. 

Yesterday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, America did this. And today, the man who signed this Executive Order, is bitching about his coverage in the New York Times.