The Travel Ban is a Tragedy

            I hope that people of goodwill can agree that “Executive Order: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” is a tragedy.

            Here me out. Even if you believe it is the only way to limit terrorist attacks on the US, it is still a tragedy. To shrink the number of refugees entering our country, indefinitely banning Syrians, and blocking entry of folk from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yeman, is a tragedy.

            Folk like Munther Alaskry, who aided us in the Iraq War and are now in danger of reprisals. Kids like Fatimah won’t get the medical help they need to live (as a guy who has lived through 4 open-heart surgeries, including two as a baby and small child, I can say I’m particularly horrified by the prospects of keeping people like her out of our country). And Syrian Christians fleeing persecution are being sent back to Islamic countries.

            All that to say, even if this Executive Order is the best option, it still leaves blood on our hands, and we need to be clear eyed about that fact. I don’t know if the courts will permanently overturn things, or what will happen, but at best this travel ban is the best bad option, and we can't pretend otherwise.