Donald Trump's travel ban is more 'sad news' for immigrants in Michigan
President Donald Trump's travel ban that restricts people from 19 nations is being criticized by immigrant advocates and two Congresswomen from Michigan. The ban, which goes into effect Monday, June 9, is aimed at several countries, most of them in the Arab world and Africa.
"It's very unfortunate, sad news," Abdulhakem Alsadah, president of the Dearborn-based National Association of Yemeni Americans, Behavioral Health & Community Social Services, told the Free Press Thursday, June 5, the day after Trump signed the executive order banning entry.
Alsadah said he wasn't surprised, that he "knew it was coming" based on Trump's earlier statements he would issue another travel ban like he did during his first term. But "it's still a headache" for many in Michigan, he said.
Trump's ban, announced late Wednesday, June 4, prohibits people from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also partially restricts and limits the entry of people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Yemeni Americans — who are the largest Middle Eastern group in Detroit, Melvindale, Coldwater and Hamtramck, census data shows — already face challenges because of the war in Yemen that led to the shut down of all U.S. embassies and consulates. Trump's travel ban "will only add to this misery," Alsadah said.
Metro Detroit, which has the highest percentage of Arab Americans among regions in the U.S., became an epicenter for challenges to Trump's first travel ban, often referred to as the Muslim travel ban since most of the nations were Muslim-majority nations. Nabih Ayad, a Detroit attorney, filed a federal lawsuit in Detroit in January 2017, shortly after Trump's first ban, on behalf of Muslims unable to travel to the U.S. to be with family members. There were several rallies held by Muslims and progressive groups in Michigan, including one at Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus. A federal court ruled in their favor the following month and they got a federal injunction blocking the ban, which was later rescinded by then President Joe Biden in January 2021 shortly after he took office.
"I think its sends the wrong message, that America is not open to democracy and freedom," Ayad, the founder and board chairman of the Dearborn-based Arab American Civil Rights League, said of Trump's latest travel ban. It also violates the constitution and will impact families in metro Detroit, he said.
More: Border Patrol arrested a Detroit student on a field trip. He now faces deportation.
In making his announcement of the travel ban, Trump started his remarks by talking about the firebomb attack in Boulder on June 1 that injured fifteen people taking part in a rally for Israeli hostages. The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is an immigrant from Egypt who overstayed his visa; he was charged June 5 with 118 criminal counts.
"The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas," Trump said from the White House. "We don't want them. In the 21st century, we've seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world. ... In my first term, my powerful travel restrictions were one of our most successful policies, and they were a key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil. We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America."
But critics said Trump's reasoning has more to do with which countries the U.S. favors in its foreign policy rather than protecting Americans. Ayad noted that the man who carried out the June 1 attack in Boulder was from Egypt, which is not included in the travel ban.
"It has nothing to do with national security," Ayad said.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Talib, D-Detroit, said the travel ban is rooted in racism.
'It should come as no surprise that Trump's racist travel ban overwhelmingly targets Black and brown people from countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean," Tlaib said in a statement. "These policies are rooted in white nationalism and will only increase hate, xenophobia, and Islamophobia in our country."
More: Taylor Police Department is first agency in metro Detroit to sign agreement with ICE
Tlaib described Trump as 'the white-supremacist-in-chief" who "has once again issued an unconstitutional travel ban" around the time that Muslims are celebrating a major holiday on Friday, June 6.
"This comes as Muslims in our communities and around the world prepare to celebrate Eid al-Adha," the Detroit Congresswoman said. "It is a shameful expansion of his hateful Muslim and African ban from his first term."
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, who used to live in Dearborn, also released a statement, saying "Trump's renewed travel ban will not make us safer, it will create more division. It's based on bigotry and xenophobia, just like the last one. U.S. policy should not be guided by hatred. This travel ban should not stand, and we must fight against it."
Under Trump's latest travel ban, there are exceptions to the restrictions. People who are still allowed from the 19 nations include: permanent residents of the U.S. known as green card holders, some immediate family members of U.S. citizens, "ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran," Afghans who helped the U.S. during the war with the Taliban, and athletes participating in the "World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State," the order reads.
The latest order is more detailed in its rules, which is helpful, but the problem in many cases is implementation, advocates said. Individual officials may not understand the details of the ban and apply a broad brush.
Some officials "are not well trained, especially overseas at embassies in specific countries," Alsadah said. "So it's going to be hard for everybody."
Christine Sauvé, the head of community engagement and communication for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, agreed with Tlaib that the ban is discriminatory.
"The ban again targets Black, brown, and Muslim people who have recently fled places experiencing insecurity and strife," she said. "Many Michiganders have ties to the affected countries and it will sadly affect thousands of innocent people who are trying to reunite with loved ones, travel for college studies, or visit family for the holidays."
Sauvé said the ban is the latest move by the Trump administration that cracks down on immigrants in Michigan and other states that is hurting communities and affecting local economies.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, X @nwarikoo or Facebook @nwarikoo
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Donald Trump's travel ban to impact immigrants in Michigan
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