Dear Editor,
This relates to your several news items (SN, Jan 27, 28, 29) on President Trump’s executive orders pertaining to immigrants. As the international news reported, Trump’s latest order bars immigrants from specified Islamic countries and also allows for the detention of immigrants (including refugees) or refusal of entry (regardless of status) into the US. There were protests all over the US and around the globe on Sunday against the entrance ban and detention of Muslim immigrants from selected countries.
It is noted that the ban or detention of immigrants includes Muslims who assisted the US in the war against Islamic terror in the Middle East. Students on semester break from universities were also detained. However, since Trump’s executive order, a federal judge in Brooklyn Federal High Court issued a partial block on the ban. Immigrants with status (valid visa or a pending refugee claim) can only be detained if they violate a law. And judicial orders are usually enforced promptly. Apparently, the President’s executive order cancelled the visas of many already on flights en route to the US, and as such they could not get clearance to enter the US and were detained.
Protests erupted spontaneously on Saturday at JFK where immigrants were kept in detention and being put back on flights to their countries of origin. If those being held in detention are incorrectly returned to their flights of origin or denied due process, the US government will have to pay their costs of return to the US as per past precedents.
The rally at JFK terminal 4 started at noon with a handful of protesters and by evening it had hit thousands overcrowding the airport train and terminal. Hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters had to be turned away. The train service was halted at one time. Several Guyanese jointed the protest with one Guyana flag being waved high in the huge crowd. A large banner with a logo of Sadhana, an NGO comprising Guyanese and South Asians, was held up by two Guyanese females at the rally. It is pleasing to see Guyanese joining mainstream rallies in America. In the past, only a handful of us joined protest marches relating to immigration and other issues impacting Guyanese Americans.
President Trump’s approval rating on his job performance has taken a dip after he signed the executive order on detaining targeted immigrants. On Thursday, Gallup Polling reported that Trump’s approval and disapproval ratings were evenly split at 45%. A day later, it was 42-51.
A separate poll through Saturday supports immigration 49%-41%, suggesting a near majority is against Trump’s immigration policy.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
