On January 27th, the President issued an executive order on immigration, which, among other things, temporarily suspended for 90 days the entry into the United States of people from seven countries – specifically Iran, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, and Lybia.
This action has been touted by many as a “ban on Muslims” and decried as “un-American,” “unconstitutional,” and “mean spirited.”
Of course, it is none of those things, and it is certainly NOT a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
According the latest CIA Word Fact Book, there are 1.7 billion Muslims in the world. Of these, nearly 900 million live in the top 6 countries (ranked by Muslim population) – Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Turkey. Not a single one of these countries is included in the President’s Executive Order. In fact, the seven countries represent only 12% of the world’s Muslim population.
There are more Muslims in Uzbekistan than there are in Yemen, Syria, Somalia, or Libya. There are more Muslims in the U.K. than in Sudan or Iraq, and yet remarkably, Muslims from the U.K. are free to come to the U.S. as they wish. In fact, of the 1.7 billion Muslims on the planet, 1.5 billion of them are as free to come here as they were on January 26th.
The artificial moral outrage expressed by members of the media, members of congress, and members of foreign governments toward the President is becoming tiresome. And frankly, it is dangerous. Like the boy in Aesop’s fable who cried “wolf”, the hollow indignation they express now will cause subsequent legitimate concerns to be dismissed. And therein lies the real threat to America.