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THE FALLOUT FROM the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily ban travellers from certain Muslim-dominated countries from entering the country continues this morning, while the UK and Australia have secured exemptions from the order.
Shortly after British prime minister Theresa May held talks with Trump at the White House on Friday, the new president signed an executive order to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough new controls on travellers from seven Muslim countries.
Trump’s move has prompted a number of online petitions, including one aimed at stopping him making a planned state visit to Britain.
By early this morning that petition to the British parliament had attracted almost 900,000 signatures.
In Ireland, meanwhile, another petition, this one aimed at halting Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s planned visit to the White House on St Patrick’s Day, has collected nearly 27,000 signatures.
British PM May sparked controversy at the weekend after refusing to condemn Trump’s immigration clampdown when pressed by journalists during a trip to Turkey, but later issued a stronger statement as it emerged British citizens had been affected.
“Immigration policy in the United States is a matter for the government of the United States, just the same as immigration policy for this country should be set by our government,” a spokesman from her office said on yesterday.
“But we do not agree with this kind of approach and it is not one we will be taking,” the spokesman added.
Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said it was “divisive and wrong to stigmatise because of nationality.”
Condemnation
Criticism of Trump from other world leaders is mounting, with several significant exceptions.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has declared that his country will accept any refugees refused by the US, a sentiment echoed by Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon.
Nicola Sturgeon / Twitter
Nicola Sturgeon / Twitter / Twitter
Germany’s Angela Merkel has said that the war on terrorism “does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion” according to a Reuters report, while French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has said that “terrorism knows no nationality”.
Discrimination is no response.
Iraq meanwhile is reportedly considering a reciprocal ban on visas for US workers there, while Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said Trump’s order will be “recorded in history as a great gift to extremists and their supporters”.
Javad Zarif / Twitter
Javad Zarif / Twitter / Twitter
Dutch far right politician Geert Wilders, however, expressed his total support for the ban, declaring it the “only way to stay safe and free”.
Geert Wilders / Twitter
Geert Wilders / Twitter / Twitter
Australia’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, whose country has also benefited from an exemption to the ban, said that “it is not my job as Prime Minister of Australia, to run a commentary on the domestic policies of other countries” according to news.com.au.
Harvard
Reaction to the ban from America’s most senior academics has likewise been less than enthusiastic.
Many of them gathered yesterday at the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in protest at a move that they say will weaken the ability of US institutions to attract exceptional foreign academic talent on scholarships.
“It’s certainly ill-judged and likely counterproductive,” Richard Lester, a professor at MIT, told the Boston Globe.
Our community is here because they are contributing research and new knowledge creation that benefits this country.
President of Harvard Drew Faust produced possibly the most hard-hitting of all the letters emanating from dismayed academics, asking the federal agencies to consider the impact of Trump’s ban on US universities.
Faust quoted Seamus Heaney in his 1,500-word missive calling on all those “committed to the strength of American higher education” to act together:
“Let us do so – to borrow the words of the poet Seamus Heaney, one of Harvard’s most beloved visitors from other shores – with our gates unbarred.”
UK wins exemption
High-profile British citizens caught up in the new US rules included double-double Olympic champion Mo Farah, who slammed a policy based on “ignorance and prejudice” that could keep him apart from his US-based family.
“On 1 January this year, Her Majesty The Queen made me a Knight of the Realm. On 27 January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien,” wrote the athlete, who represents Britain but was born in Somalia.
Iraqi-born MP Nadhim Zahawi, from May’s Conservative Party, had earlier revealed he would be barred from entering the US under the clampdown.
“A sad, sad day to feel like a second class citizen! Sad day for the USA,” he added.
But later yesterday Johnson won an exemption for British citizens and dual nationals after he discussed the matter with Washington.
The foreign ministry subsequently announced the order would only apply to individuals travelling directly to the US from one of the seven listed countries – Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Sudan.
“If you are travelling to the US from anywhere other than one of those countries (for instance, the UK) the executive order does not apply to you and you will experience no extra checks regardless of your nationality or your place of birth,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry added that dual nationals might have extra checks if they are coming from one of the seven named countries, “for example a UK-Libya dual national coming from Libya to the US”.
Following the foreign ministry advice a spokeswoman for Farah said he was “relieved” but nonetheless “fundamentally disagrees” with Trump’s order.
Zahawi praised the government for securing assurances for British citizens, adding that he still believed the new US rules amount to a “mistaken policy”.
Pressure mounts on May
Trump’s move prompted protests globally and demonstrators are due to gather outside Downing Street today and hold rallies in cities across Britain.
Domestic pressure has mounted on May to distance herself from Trump, with opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn urging the government to put off the president’s scheduled state visit until the ban is rescinded.
May “would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump’s actions in the clearest terms,” he wrote on Twitter.
The online petition against Trump’s planned state visit later this year will be considered for debate in parliament, but a government spokesman said the invitation “was extended and has been accepted” by Washington.
Additional reporting © – AFP, 2017
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Online petitions aren’t worth the paper their written on.
@Teddy: The same as online polls…
But apparently elections don’t count if they don’t go your way
Fair play to him least someone has finally the balls to do what everyone wants done
@Axl:Everyone??? Really dumb comment.
@Axl: Obama did it in 2011 and no one gave a crap
@Anton No he didn’t – as you would well be aware if you actually read up on what happened in 2011
7 countries were chosen by the Obama administration , the media are clearly trying to undermine trump , his main focus is keeping the US safe Europe should be doing the same !
@Mrs M: Can you exactly provide the details of the threat that Trump got ? That would be extremely helpful in clearing this up.Thanks.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/how-the-trump-administration-chose-the-7-countries/ the media didn’t scrutinise Obama it’s a travel ban on countries supporting terrorism not on anyone’s religious beliefs, Europe should do the same !
@Mrs M: So how is Saudi Arabia missing?
Oil, Military contracts etc
@Mrs M: The assessed threat level put up by the Homeland Security had homegrown terrorists at the HIGH risk …The next level that they do is called a MODERATE threat & in that you would have White Supremacists ,Anarchist extremists,Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula,Black separatists extremists,Islamic state of Iraq & Syria,Militia extremists &sovereign city extremists
One in the LOW level would be if you were an anti choice extremist..Yikes!
Pious virtue signalling morons getting bent out of shape and protesting decisions made in another country. These protests and petitions will achieve nothing, They are like an upset baby throwing their bottle out of the cot. Yet the same protesters say nothing about the problems right in front of them at home, last time I checked there was a slew of corruption allegations at IBRC, Jonathon Sugarman has made some explosive allegations, hospitals in crisis etc. etc.
People are too easily distracted by unimportant things, that’s half of the problem. Government officials are quick to jump on the anti-trump bandwagon because it takes public attention off how poor a job their doing.
The U.S. has been bombing these countries for 15 years with little or no uproar, but as soon as Trump revoke their holiday visas the media are in over drive. This just confirms the anti Trump media policy..
@rory2u: Yes, the US has been bombing these countries for 15 years, which is exactly why people from these countries are fleeing. And there has been uproar among human rights groups. The U.S. creates a mess and then refuses to help clean it up, does that seem right to you?
@Evie The mess was created by previous presidents/governments. Trump is doing the things he was elected to do. The snowflakes need to get over it and conform. They lost the election, end of story.
You’re ignoring the fact that they’re not bombing these countries for the laugh. Sure there are sketchy US power grabs that are thrown into the mix but there are legitimate reasons to bomb these countries. Look at the rise of ISIS when there was no intervention. In many ways it’s a no-win scenario. The underlying factors are extremist Islam and US greed. If you ignore one you only get half the picture
@Awkward Seal: The bombing of Libya was wrong. Just wrong. The U.S. UK and France wanted regime change. Libya got chaos and total destruction of their society. The EU got refugees.
More bullcrap whipped up and fanned by the mainstream media to undermine and condescend the start of his presidency. This video sums it up.
To ‘condescend’ ??? WTF …
Henry, the first executive order that has had any immediate impact and already there are judges after getting injunctions against it and it had to be amended within two days, it’s amateur hour
Headline is disgusting. Neither UK nor Australia were even on the list of countries. Stop trying to incite people, Journal.ie.
Headline is accurate. Dual citizens would have been included
@Joseph – then why is UK saying there still would be a problem for people coming directly from any of the listed countries? And as UK politicians saw the need to call the US in the first place, then even they thought they were involved … or do you know more than the UK? I’d think a bit harder about where your disgust should be aimed …
It makes it sound like all migrants have been banned when it’s only been those who hold citizenship of 7 countries with security concerns.
Gary, your first sentence does not make sense. What are you actually asking? Secondly, I presume, by the Journal’s standards, every other EU state gained exemption, and the Nordic countries, Russia etc etc etc…whilst not being on the list.
Have you actually read the words of the act? They are not quite what some parts of the media are indicating.
@Joseph Sorry you couldn’t understand what I said, maybe if you let me know what bit you did understand I can help you with the rest. And, as for the rest of the world getting ‘exemptions’, that doesn’t seem too clear, with UK press saying there have been contradictory statements coming from the US and the UK. Not so sure what you mean about your presumptions on the Journal’s standards, but I myself prefer to read many sources to try and get the clearest idea on what is actually happening.
Gary, your first sentence….
It was all grand when Obama did it.
@MuckyMoo: It`s not what you do it`s how you do it, if he had any sort of advisers aiding him and not yes men and women he could of done the same job with a pin hammer instead of a sledge hammer and wouldnt of ended up with a devided country which could easily end up with a civil war, but that wouldnt bother trump as he will never see any errors he makes and his advisors wont tell him….
It’s “wouldn’t have.”
@MuckyMoo Except that Obama didn’t do it. Stop with the alternate facts.
Obama never banned immigrants, he slowed the process while it was being strengthened, people were still coming in. An Iraqi translator for the US military had his visa revoked in arrival in America at the weekend. How much more sure do you need to be of someone’s allegiances? Yes he got in eventually but that is ridiculous
Yes Obama did ban Iraqis Dave
Hi, and what part of that is a ban on people coming from those countries? Were people with visas turned away? No. Were people allowed travel and then turned back? No. Not a ban.
Barnes, nice video, I stopped watching after the idiot told me something I already knew and called me an idiot for not knowing it. But of course he only makes videos for people that already agree with him anyway so what’s the point?
“Obama did ban Iraqis” – Nope! They revetted the 58,000+ that were already there due to the two boyos mentioned in West Cork Lads link above.They then brought in the new vetting procedures to the new applicants & this seriously slowed things up…Please do better research.
Dave, so he was stopped but he wasn’t. Weak example.
Do you realise that anyone entering the USA on an ESTA can be refused entry, at the point of entry, by US Immigration without any reason being given? This is not new, but has been in force for a couple of years or so.
So many people seeming to believe, or at least propagate the idea, that America operated an open-borders policy before last weekend. It hasn’t done that for a long time. US Immigration have been distinctly quirky on their policy…as interpreted by individual officers…for a long time.
Joseph, it’s a perfect example, he worked with the US military, that’s how he and his family got their visas. It would take them at most five minutes to find this out. He was held for hours after his wife and kids went through unstopped.
@Mumpsimus: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/16/world/paris-attacks-syrian-refugees-backlash/ Strange how the news gets reported and who reacts to it then?
He just got it all wrong, it wasn’t thought out properly! A President of a nation is a person who’s used to seeing decisions being made by a state & for the good of that Country. t’Rump is just a green horn & is making a laughing stock of the office he holds.
All his decisions will now be scrutinised & challenged by legal people because he just orders things to happen & sign’s them off in record time. What next will happen, from this outrageous man. He has split America down the middle & he has re-created racism in a huge way back in the USA!
@Liam John Bradshaw: Interesting how many people on here only a few weeks ago were saying we should stop the flow of refugees and immigrants from North Africa coming into Europe. Trump does this but aims it at one religion, the one religion the US declared war on for the most part and look at those same people now speaking out against it.
@Liam John Bradshaw: Look he is keeping his promises. He has a mandate.
There are some really dumb xenophobic key board warriors here…
This will likely form a pattern of future conduct.
Trump will shoot out impetuously from the hip, not looking at consequence or practicality. Then his Administration will do its best to address the problems and reverse the more impractical aspects.
It’s the price of a raving narcissist as President of the US.
Trump looks like a self indulgent amateur, perhaos because that is what he is.
@Tony Daly:
What a dumb, uninformed, baseless comment.
Either back up your assertions or shut up. He’s been inside the white house a matter of days, and someone like yourself who probably “predicted” he’d lose the election months ago is now expecting to be taken seriously.
The details of the perpetrators are not even released yet, and you’ve already jumped to conclusions and motives. Pathetic.
Not to mention the alternative choice in electing a literal warmonger in Clinton. A despicable woman with blood on her hands, years of being the sidekick to Obama’s bombing and intervention resulting in ISIS, destabilization of the middle-east and pockets full of money from the Saudis.
Huh? Perpetrators? Back up the assertions he made? OK, Trump is now into day three of walking back parts of an executive order signed Friday. An executive order which is now meaningless as once your flight doesn’t originate in any of those seven countries you’re all good and won’t be given extra checks. No terror attacks on American soil were perpetrated by people from these countries.
@Dave O Keeffe: “once your flight doesn’t originate in any of those seven countries you’re all good and won’t be given extra checks”
unfortunately this only applies to people with green cards and dual citizenship of any of these 7 countries.
I just calcualted the total population of the combined 7 countries. He has banned 210million people from entering the US. Unprecedented stuff.
See the link below http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/read-draft-text-trump-executive-order-muslim-entry_us_5888fe00e4b0024605fd591d. Im not sure if there will be more on the list of prohibited countries in 2 months time. see (paragraph below included in exec order)
…”Suspend visa issuance to countries of “particular concern.” After 60 days, DHS, the State Department and DNI are instructed to draft a list of countries that don’t comply with requests for information. Foreign nationals from those countries will be banned from entering the U.S….”
Saoirse, Trump has said that Christians from those countries will be allowed in as they are being persecuted. No word yet on moderate Muslims who are also being presented being given an exemption. Remember the people that replied to shouts of black lives matter with all lives matter? They got in office and guess what? They really don’t think that all lives matter.
@Dave O Keeffe: it looks like Bannon is having a large say in latest developments. DHS (Dept of Homeland Security) concluded the exec order shouldn’t apply to green card holders, but was overruled by Bannon. President Trump has restructured the National Security Council to include Steve Bannon, his chief strategist. He has removed the Dir Nat Intel and Chair of Joint Chiefs.
@saoirse janneau: The pair will attend when “issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed. They will be “invited” as it were..
There are a lot of people learning on the job in the American intelligence community.
I seen trump saying he seen Muslim’s on the streets cheering when the planes hit the world trade center , if it was true it would be hard for him not to hate them
@Srephen You seen him saying that? He was telling alternate facts when he said that.
@Stephen Hynes: Well, if he said it, it must be true! Unless it’s an alternative fact….
@Stephen
I saw muslims jumping and cheering when it happened ,in the eastend london,Globe road to be precise
@Stephen Hynes: He made that up.
1. No countries where Trump has a business are on the list.
2. No Saudi Arabia on the list.
3. Trump has had to take a phone call from Angela Merkel who then needed to explain what the Geneva Convention on Human Rights is.
Flaming Nora…
27,000 Irish people get their news and information from one media source.
Trump is a real President who gets thing’s done.So all the lefties keep stamping your feet.I doubt he will be bothered too much about opinions from countries that are morally and financially bankrupt.
Trump is even overstepping the mark in his own country issuing executive orders before Congress even makes considered decisions.
Democracy is the loser when dictatorship takes over.
On Harvard it is dominated by liberals. It just is. As for academics, 95% of them vote Democrat. Its an example of the elites being on another planet from the voters.
People give out about Enda Kenny as Taoiseach but Jeez imagine if we had Justin Trudeau?
I know.
Too awful to contemplate.
@Alex Falcone: Yeah must be horrible to be a Canadian with a world class healthcare system and unemployment rate of less than 7%. They must look upon us with envy.
Great news for British athletics as May secures further exemptions for Mo Farah, on top of the TUE’s he already has.
Go on then, explain the TUE rules for us all
Something wrong with your computer or are you just too lazy to look it up for yourself?
Well I assumed that since you brought it up you’d know and I could get it straight from the horses mouth. Apparently not.
He’s only in office less than two weeks and already the world hates him.this just cannot be right. Actually I don’t think those American companies based here will want to go back to the states while this mental headcase is in power.
@Gerry Fallon: These protests are not spontaneous they have been planned for weeks. The Womens March was planned 6 weeks before election day.
And the protests at airports that started the day he announced the ban, how long in advance were they planned?
The US embassy in London has denied there is an exemption for the british
have your say