In 2017, President Donald Trump’s chaotic attempt to exclude Muslims from immigrating to the United States by restricting arrivals from several Muslim-majority countries was met with no uncertain response. At Dulles International Airport outside Washington, Los Angeles International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and elsewhere, scores of lawyers, faith leaders and concerned lay people formed circles around Muslims as they paused in protest in airport hallways to perform their congregational prayers.
As challenging as that was for refugees and travelers from the affected countries, two new executive orders in Trump’s second term are proving of equal concern to civil rights organizations and Muslims Americans, especially Palestinian and Arab Americans, particularly when it comes to foreign students studying in the U.S.
Trump’s first attempted ban, which targeted refugees and travelers holding visas from seven majority-Muslim countries, was immediately hit with numerous legal challenges and widespread condemnation. Eventually a third version of the executive order was upheld by the Supreme Court in June of 2018.
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