Trump's refugee ban sparks chaos, panic, anger worldwide

By Park Si-soo

Confusion, worry and outrage are growing worldwide after U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) endorsed a sweeping ban on people seeking refuge in the United States and visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The immediate fallout from Trump's order meant that an untold number of foreign-born U.S. residents now traveling outside the U.S. could be stuck overseas for at least 90 days -- despite holding permanent residency ``green cards'' or other visas, according to the Associated Press. Some foreign nationals who were allowed to board flights before the order was signed were being detained at U.S. airports, told they were no longer welcome, it reported.

The seven Muslim countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Trump said the ban would protect Americans from terrorism. Included in the measure is a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen and a 120-day suspension of the U.S. refugee program.

“It's working out very nicely,” Trump said of the implementation of his order. “We're going to have a very, very strict ban and we're going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years.”

Trump's order singled out Syrians for the most aggressive ban, indefinitely blocking entry for anyone from that country, including those fleeing civil war.

International backlash

The order drew criticism from U.S. lawmakers and officials around the globe.

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said while Trump is right to focus on border security, the order is “too broad.”

“If we send a signal to the Middle East that the U.S. sees all Muslims as jihadis, the terrorist recruiters win by telling kids that America is banning Muslims and that this is America versus one religion,” Sasse was quoted as saying in reports. “Our generational fight against jihadism requires wisdom.”

The ban sparked widespread criticism in even U.S. Western allies including France and Germany, Arab American groups, human rights organizations.

“This is a stupid, terrible decision which will hurt the American people more than us or anybody else, because it shows that this President can’t manage people, politics or global relationships,” said Najeed Haidari, a Yemeni-American security manager for an oil company in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

In Tehran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran would stop issuing new visas to U.S. citizens in response to Trump's ban, but that anyone already with a visa to Iran wouldn't be turned away.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter Saturday afternoon to say that refugees were welcome in Canada, “regardless of your faith.”

According to AP, the U.S. government can exempt foreign nationals from the ban if their entry is deemed in the national interest. But it was not immediately clear how that exemption might be applied.

Diplomats from the seven countries singled out by Trump's order would still be allowed into the U.S.

Last year the U.S. resettled 85,000 people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice, including more than 12,000 Syrians. Before leaving office President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would accept 110,000 refugees in the coming year, but Trump's order cut that by more than half to 50,000.