'Journal Tribune' interviews UNE’s Ali Ahmida on Trump’s immigration ban
Ali Ahmida, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Political Science, was interviewed for a front page article in the Journal Tribune’s February 4–5 weekend issue. Ahmida discussed the executive order issued on January 27 by President Trump to temporarily bar immigrants from seven predominately Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
Ahmida expressed his view that the order sullies the reputation of America as a country that is welcoming to immigrants from all countries. “American values of openness and inclusiveness,” he said, are at risk.
He is concerned that Trumps’ decision was not based in fact and creates unnecessary hostility. “To invent Islam and Muslims as enemies of the U.S. is ill-informed and flat out wrong,” he stated. “The idea that all Muslims are terrorists… ignores the tremendous diversity of Muslims world-wide.”
He believes that the policy may “give us a false sense of security in the short term,” but that it “plays into the ISIS ideology… and gives them a justification for terrorism.”
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