Effects of the travel ban

Three Tulsans on what it means to them

There is much to be said about Donald Trump’s embattled travel ban. The questionable legality, the brute-force approach of signing an executive order rather than going through Congress, and of course the moral implications of sacrificing refugees in the name of keeping hypothetical terrorists on the right side of the fence have all served to muddy the waters surrounding his executive action. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has, for now, temporarily blocked the ban in a unanimous decision. The Trump administration has since gone back to the drawing board to re-draft a new version of the order, but what exactly will change remains to be seen. 

Currently, there are roughly 11.4 million displaced Syrian refugees. As long as the war rages on, this number will continue to grow. 

In Tulsa, it can be easy to ignore the suffering taking place half-a-world away. Unless, that is, you’re Senna and Dana Sous. Senna and Dana are sisters, both born in the United States. Both are Muslim. Their parents were members of Syria’s once-robust middle class, transplanted to the US two decades ago. Until the war started the girls would spend their summer vacations in Aleppo with their relatives. Now those same family members are clinging to their old home, unable to leave a city ravaged by rebel fighters and government soldiers.

I first met Senna and Dana about a year-and-a-half ago. At the time, the Syrian Civil War was at its peak, and they agreed to sit for an interview about their perspectives on the turn their country had taken. This time, I wanted their thoughts on the one ours has taken.

“When I first heard about the travel ban, it didn’t really surprise me, because in a way it’s kind of been there already,” Senna said. “But the fact that [Trump] is shutting the door on the people who are in most need, who are spending the night on the streets in a war-torn country, that was a little surprising.”

It’s always been hard to get from Syria to the United States. Senna and Dana have two cousins, both medical students, who tried time and again to gain entry to the US only to be turned
away. Before that, their father, a doctor, tried for 12 years to get his visa before he was finally granted one. That was before the travel ban. 

“I think with this travel ban it’s definitely just going to make things worse, and there’s just no hope,” Senna said.

Senna and Dana defy most every Muslim stereotype. They have friends of many religions and backgrounds, attend concerts, and choose not to wear headscarves. When we met for the interview, both girls shook my hand, a gesture forbidden between men and women in cultures with fundamentalist Islamic views. 

These may seem like pale stereotypes, but enough people believe in them that an anti-Muslim platform can get someone elected president. 

“For people who don’t know that much, when they hear the word ‘Muslim’ they’re going to be scared, just because they don’t understand,” Senna said.

“I was actually approached today by a young man on campus,” Dana added. “And we’ve just been friends in passing, and he tells me ‘I had a friend that pointed out to me that you’re Muslim and I didn’t know that. And I’m sorry if I violated any of your cultural or religious [rules].’”

Both of the girls seem to think it’s funny, but it goes to show how little is understood about Islam, even in academic settings.

And by banning refugee admissions, Trump has attempted to lock millions of people in with their tormentors.

“The fact of the matter is, most of the people being targeted by ISIS, especially in Syria and Iraq, are the Shia Muslims,” Senna said. “He’s actually shutting the door on the people that ISIS is targeting the most.” 

​Aliye Shimi, executive director of Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, is a self-described “born-and-bred Tulsan.” She’s lived here her entire life, and is an active member of the Tulsa interfaith community, as well as a practicing Muslim.

When Donald Trump’s travel ban was enacted, Shimi and her husband were in the process of obtaining visas for his family, who live in Damascus. Thanks to the 9th Circuit’s ruling, those with pre-approved visas are currently allowed to travel, but getting approved for a new visa right now is another story. There is now very little hope of extracting any of his family members from a city with failing utilities, rampant corruption, and the ever-present threat of war. 

Like many, she sees the travel ban as hypocritical and unhelpful, since most recent terror attacks have been carried out by radicalized Americans, rather than immigrants.

“If you want to look at domestic terrorism, let’s look at what happened in our own backyard here in 1995 with the Oklahoma City Bombing,” she said. “What type of ban would have stopped Timothy McVeigh from committing one of the most horrendous acts of domestic terrorism ever?”

Even if we ignore terror attacks committed by white nationalists and other far-right organizations, it isn’t clear how the current ban would have stopped any of the terror attacks committed by Muslims in recent years. Omar Mateen, who committed the Pulse Nightclub shooting, was born in New York to Afghani parents. The Tsaernaev brothers, perpetrators of the Boston Bombing, were Chechen-American. The San Bernardino shooters were of Pakistani descent, and one was American-born. None of these countries or regions have had travel bans placed on them.

Shimi, too, feels that Islam is mischaracterized in western media. While many Americans identify Islam with ISIS, or other terrorist groups, she sees a much more complicated picture.

“The people who have been fighting [ISIS] in the front lines have been Muslims—have been Afghanis, have been Syrians, have been Lebanese.

“To be honest with you,” she added, “all this rhetoric we’re hearing, all this fearmongering, it’s just giving them more fuel. This is just making ISIS’s job so much easier.”