US President Donald Trump is once again facing worldwide backlash, following his decision to ban citizens of seven Muslim-based countries from entering the United States.
Trump put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country, an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and a 90-day bar on citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Since the businessman-turned-politician signed the executive order, protests have erupted at airports and in capital cities across the world.
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has joined in international condemnation, saying the move has caused “considerable concern”.
“While we respect the right of the US administration to determine US immigration policy these are not initiatives that New Zealand would contemplate. It is also clear that the implementation is subject to significant teething problems.”
While McCully said a similar band would never be contemplated in New Zealand, he said the Government”respects the right” of the US to determine its own policy.
A number of world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had declared their opposition to Trump’s latest move, and a number of actors criticised him during the SAG Awards.
Worldwide outrage has also sparked a UK petition to cancel Trump’s visiting the Queen has garnered more than 660,000 signatures, qualifying it for debate in British parliament.
According to Global News, this petition is a direct retaliation to the newly elected President’s tightening of immigration laws in the US.
“Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen,” the petition page reads.
“Donald Trump’s well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales.”
“Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official State Visit.”
Despite the global reaction to his latest act as President, Trump continues to defend his decision – one that a federal judge in New York was able to temporarily bar over the weekend.
‘It’s not a Muslim ban,” he says. “But it’s working out very nicely.”
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