History Is Repeating Itself
January 30, 2017
Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler. He is not calling for the executions of Jews, queer people and other minorities. To compare President Trump to someone who committed such atrocities not only further polarizes the country, but also does a disservice to all of the victims of the Holocaust. However, in signing the executive order banning refugees from all countries and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, President Trump is responding to the humanitarian refugee crisis in the same way the United States responded to the Holocaust.
In 1939, the American Institute of Public Opinion ran a poll regarding refugee children — many of whom were Jews — fleeing Germany. At the time, 61 percent of Americans voted to block these children from entering the United States, in fear that they were German spies. This poll became a reality when 937 Jewish refugees aboard the S.S. St. Louis were not allowed into the United States. 254 of those refugees ended up dying in Nazi death camps. Now, it is 2017, and America is once again falling short of its promise to be a land where anyone can make it.
Refugees fleeing to this country are not coming here to be violent. In fact, they are coming here to flee violence. Studies have repeatedly shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States; people just choose to focus more on crimes committed by immigrants. When someone who claims to follow Islam commits an act of terror, people immediately condemn the entire religion. However, when a white man who claims to follow Christianity attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic in defense of Christianity’s stance on abortion, the same people who condemned Islam were silent. Even Vice President Mike Pence pointed out the anti-American nature of a Muslim ban in a 2015 tweet.
Furthermore, this ban will only fuel the anger of radical terrorists. ISIS has already said this Muslim ban will be used as propaganda to expand its terrorist group. This ban — which is in direct violation of the First Amendment’s commitment to religious freedom and the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act — will do nothing, except hurt victims of violence and terror.
On Jan. 27, Pence addressed the March for Life, an annual protest in Washington against abortion. In his speech, Pence said, “Life is winning again in America.” While his consistent commitment to this issue is admirable, what about the lives of refugees? The women and children fleeing Syria have heartbeats too — just like the unborn babies Pence claims to care deeply about. If Pence is truly “pro-life” then he will stand up against Trump, and we can go back to progressing as a nation and as a human race.
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Jan. 30 print edition. Email Andrew Heying at [email protected].
Daniel Francis • Jan 31, 2017 at 10:42 am
“Donald Trump is not Adolph Hitler.” Congratulations on an insight that every (even minimally) educated person has long known. Allow me to point out other well-known facts which you omit to mention in your ‘Trump-not-being-Hitler.’ Hitler set about to murder innocents among his fellow Germans, whereas Trump is setting about to keep safe his innocent fellow Americans like you from satanically evil premeditating foreigners. And another thing. There is negligible difference between that 1939 American Government that locked out refugee Jews, and the present Government of Israel that locks out from citizenship foreigners who don’t have their Jewishness from Jewish mothers. As for those Jewish fathers who spilled their seed in the wilderness of Gentile sin, let ’em go eat (non-kosher) cake.
Arafat • Jan 30, 2017 at 10:37 am
Trump handled this poorly but his intention is correct. Immigration is not a right it is a privilege. Every country has the right to fashion their own immigration policies as their lawmakers deem fit.
As an example of this we could take a page from almost every single (and this is dozens) of Muslim nations where immigration by non-Muslims is next to impossible. But we all know this issue is not as simple as just this and that there are valid reasons to ban Muslim immigration to America and it is because Islam is profoundly unconstitutional and any practicing Muslim is, by definition, in defiance of our constitution.
Islam does not believe in equal rights. Islam does not believe in man-made laws – Allah’s laws are THE law, Islam does not believe in individual rights. And, other than for vapid liberals, this is as obvious as the light of day for there is not one single Muslim country where one cannot see these unconstitutional practices in action.
So to summarize. Immigration is a privilege not a right. Practicing Muslims see our values and Constitution and Bill of Rights as barriers to push away. Why would any sane nation welcome in a people who would destroy our freedoms, undermine diversity (yes, diversity as opposed to the monolithic Islamic countries), and who would destroy our liberal ideals. (And I use the word “liberal” as per its real definition not the perverted one use by the liberals of today.)
Arafat • Jan 30, 2017 at 10:35 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHZBGidQcEs