Donald Trump has placed a 120-day ban on refugees, and an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. This ban prevents all people seeking refuge in America from coming. Furthermore, the order states that the total refugees that will be allowed in the U.S. will be cut from 110,000 to 50,000. Trump instated this ban to reduce Islamic terrorism in our country.

However, the ban, at its core, goes against American values.

For one, we should not be turning a blind eye towards the things happening in those countries. The citizens of Syria, as well as other war-zone countries are in lots of danger, and we should be able to provide sanctuary to them. History repeats itself, as there have been times where we have not done enough to help countries in need. Not only that, but justifying the ban by saying we are protecting ourselves from terrorism is very unreasonable, as a lot of refugees are, well, refugees. Pretty much all of them are seeking safety from the heinous crimes happening in their countries. And the few people that are actual terrorists can be stopped from coming in by putting in stronger security measures, rather than just outright banning every single person coming in the country.

Furthermore, religious terrorism makes up a small amount of total terrorism, and Islamic terrorism makes up an even smaller amount. In fact, 94% of terrorist attacks were done by non-Muslims, according to the FBI. There are far more non-Muslim terrorists than there are Muslim ones. Most terrorists attacks are done by American born citizens. So really, this blanket ban is not really solving terrorism; it’s simply unnecessary and allowing innocent people to die.

As a country built on immigration, a country built on diversity, we shouldn’t be banning an entire group of people from entering; that is going against what makes us true Americans.