The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency could be characterized as rough, though this is possibly the understatement of the century. Hovering around a disapproval rating of 53 percent, the majority of Americans are displeased with the work the president has done thus far.
There certainly will not be the standard “honeymoon period” that is expected in a president’s first few months- even year- for Trump. Days into his term, the president made many landmark decisions and announcements, including a vehement denial of climate change, attempts to dismantle the EPA, a threat to rescind the gay marriage Supreme Court ruling and perhaps most alarming of all- the proposal of a Muslim registry.
Following this trend, on International Holocaust Remembrance day, the day the entire world has dedicated to remembering the genocide that occurred because of discrimination against a certain group, Trump announced his executive order to discriminate against a certain group.
Immediately, clear parallels were drawn between the banning of Muslims from the US and the turning away of Jewish refugees on The St. Louis, a ship that had travelled from Germany in1939 all the way to the U.S. border, only to be turned around without ever docking. “I feel that the Muslim ban is ridiculous and a huge step back in time. This ban parallels the actions taken by Hitler and the Nazis during the Holocaust, as it is a persecution of an entire religion and propels mistreatment of innocent Muslims,” senior Julianna Solomon said.
The Muslim registry means many different things to various groups, but to Muslims, it’s not only a threat but also an outrage. “It felt so unfair that my parents left everything behind to come to the U.S. and then to face an executive order like this… It’s so hateful,” senior Yosi Talaminaei said.
Talaminaei also went on to explain that “Iranians contribute so much to society, in terms of medicine and technology and entrepreneurship.” This fact is undeniable– Muslim Americans developed the chemotherapy treatment for brain tumors and revamped this country’s original art form, jazz, to name just a couple of the contributions that the group has made, both medically and culturally.
In the end, a travel ban was imposed by Trump on Jan. 27, which yielded national protests from citizens around the U.S. as well as foreign leaders like Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau and Theresa May, leaders of Germany, Canada and the UK, respectively. The situation was only made worse as lawsuits began to pop up in a multitude of places, causing lawyers to swarm airports where travellers were being held. The travel ban has also had longer term effects, splitting up families and ruining plans for foreign students to attend university in the fall.

Julia Gastwirth

Managing Editor