A Muslim Perspective on the Trump Travel Ban

Note: This interview was conducted in early February, and is a response to Donald Trump’s first executive order on immigration, not the second version.

In his first week in office, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order limiting movement of persons between the United States and the Middle East, which temporarily blocked all refugee resettlement within the US and banned visa-holders from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country for at least 90 days (Syrians were banned indefinitely), as well as decreasing America’s 2017 refugee quota to 50,000.

Though the travel ban wasn’t viewed favorably on McClatchy High School’s left-leaning campus, most weren’t actually affected by it. History teacher Tammy Abdo, McClatchy’s only Muslim faculty member, was. She spoke with the Prospector the week after the order was signed, before a federal judge put it on hold.

“I have friends that are stuck in the Middle East that aren’t coming,” said Abdo about the personal impact of the travel ban. She also has friends in the U.S. who’ve been hurt by it, one of whom, Reem Olaby, Ph.D, is a doctor heading the autism research department at UC Davis’ MIND institute. Because Ms. Olaby is in the country on a visa, she’s afraid to leave. Therefore, according to Abdo, “she can’t represent UC Davis autism research internationally. She has to send somebody else.”

Ms. Olaby’s family, still in the Middle East, can’t move either. “She can’t go out, nobody can come in, and so she’s just stuck in this situation. And you’re talking about somebody who’s advancing the U.S.”

            Despite the travel ban’s tangible consequences, Abdo doesn’t think the order itself is anything extraordinary. “It’s not new,” she said of legislation that appears to target Muslims in the name of security. “A lot of similar things have been in place since George W. Bush was in office.” The Patriot Act and National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, both responses to 9/11, are two examples.

            What scares her more is what she sees as Donald Trump’s endorsement of Islamophobia. “He legitimized hate,” said Abdo, a statement she repeated many times over the course of the interview. “He said, ‘This is OK now.’” She believes that his election liberated many who harbored anti-Muslim feelings previously but did not express them.

In this increasingly suspicious, hostile climate, she’s had to be extra cautious. Abdo said she often avoids speaking to her family in Arabic while in public. When her one-year-old daughter fell out of her crib, she was afraid to take her to the emergency room, thinking a doctor might suspect child abuse. “I didn’t know who was going to approach me, how they would react. Would they think ‘Oh my god, what is she doing to her child?’”

She also cancelled a trip to Southern California, conscious of the harassment Muslims often face when flying. “I didn’t go on that flight. If somebody feels unsafe with me on the flight, or they hear me say something in Arabic, I could get kicked off the flight. And then not only will I get kicked off, but I’ll have to go through an interrogation process.”

Of course, Abdo had to make such considerations before Mr. Trump’s election -- “I’ve always been a Muslim,” she said -- but never to such extremes. In any given situation, she now feels she has “a 50/50 chance” of interacting with someone outwardly prejudiced. She said she’s been cursed at, mocked, and flipped off by strangers.

Despite this, her faith in the American people remains powerful. The backlash against the immigration order is one reason why. “When you watch the news and see people protesting; standing up to hate, that’s what America is.” Her “50/50” comment makes her seem like more of a skeptic than she is. In reality, she said she’s had more positive experiences with strangers than negative ones. She talked about a trip to the mall where she and her friends were stopped by a group of shoppers who, seeing their Muslim dress, assumed them to be refugees. “They told us how happy they were about us being here … That’s one of the things I’ve seen more of since the election.” Encounters like this, and the overwhelming support she said she’s received from the McClatchy community, have kept Abdo optimistic about Muslims’ place in the U.S. going forward despite the challenges facing the community in the Trump era.

She ended the discussion by encouraging McClatchy students to make Muslims feel welcome in their community. While telling a Muslim person they are welcome is good, she said it’s not always necessary. “Sometimes a smile is more than enough. It tells that person ‘I’m not your enemy,’ and it will make them feel better.