In 2011 Homeland Security foiled a terrorist plot by two Iraqis posing as refugees. ABC broke the story in 2013, and Homeland Security estimated that dozens of similar terrorist cells are here. President Donald Trump’s concerns are not unreasonable.

For those who dismiss these concerns by pointing out that our chances of getting blown up by terrorists is miniscule, I would remind them that the chance of dying in an airplane crash is also miniscule, but that doesn’t mean we minimize the importance of government regulation to keep air travel safe. And it doesn’t mean that effective safety measures cannot be improved.

Trump’s executive order was a 90-day travel pause from seven countries, identified by then-President Barack Obama’s Homeland Security as nations “warranting particular scrutiny.” Additional scrutiny was reasonable.

However, Trump never should have used the phrase “Muslim ban,” even after he corrected himself. And the media, by framing the news stories of Trump’s executive action as a “Muslim ban”, involving “Muslim majority nations,” over and over, only ramped up the fear and hysteria in our Muslim populations. For what purpose? To humiliate the Trump administration?

The point is this: Religion is not the issue, and it never should be been mentioned by either Trump or the press. The issue is terrorism, not Islam.

Jonette Christian

Mainers for Sensible Immigration Policy

Holden

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