Student Voices: Executive Order on Immigration

This week on Student Voices, the masses of BPHS were questioned on their thoughts and opinions regarding Trump’s latest executive order: the restriction on immigration.

On Friday, Jan. 27, President Trump signed an executive order that restricts citizens of 7 Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for the next 90 days, and suspends the refugee program for the next 120 days. The time will be used for the Department of Homeland Security, state department officials, and the director of national intelligence to review what information the government needs to fully vet visitors and decide which countries do not provide enough of said information. A senior White House official stated that the goal of the order is to “keep America safe.”

Senior Kyle Coplan said, “It doesn’t reflect American values,” referring to the society that ideally treats all equally regardless of national origin.  He also mentioned a tweet he saw that was reported to have advised “don’t confuse your racism with patriotism.”

Another senior student Molly McDowell said: “It’s just to see if any of those countries have anything bad planned for the United States, but I don’t think people who are already in the United States legally should be deported. That’s not fair. The problem is not immigration, the problem is illegal immigration.”

Finally, sophomore Regan Gray said, “I don’t think it’s fair since none of them are actually attacking us. All of the fatal terrorist attacks have been from terrorists living in America, not the countries Trump is banning from entering.”

Clearly, Trump’s order has stirred up lots of opinions, but only time will tell America’s fate.