Donald Trump has been President for nine days.
Already he has begun plans for the US-Mexico border wall, reinstated the global gag rule on abortion, and signaled his support for the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. His most recent action, however, is arguably the most controversial: President Trump has implemented new immigration policy which, in a recent phone call to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he referred to as a “Muslim ban.”
According to a recent interview with the former mayor, Trump said in the same phone call, “Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.” Giuliani explained in the interview that the commission’s tactic for implementing Trump’s self-described “Muslim ban” was to focus on nationality rather than religion. “The areas of the world that create danger for us, which is a factual basis, not a religious basis. Perfectly legal, perfectly sensible,” Giuliani said.
The ban, which temporarily suspends the US refugee program, blocks immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, and indefinitely halts Syrian refugees from entering the country, has been met with widespread criticism. Protests have sprung up around the nation as travellers from banned countries are being held in detention or deported back to their native lands. In response, judges from across the nation have been working to block parts of Trump’s ban.
Since President Trump signed the order on Friday, opponents have been arguing that a Muslim ban is unconstitutional, un-American, and inhumane. Here are some of the most important stories of solidarity from the weekend.