Within the first few days of taking over the White House, President Donald Trump signed executive orders restricting travel of people traveling from seven majority Muslim countries and began cracking down on undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The orders have been highly criticized as unfairly targeting of immigrants by advocates, while supporters claim the measures are aimed at increasing safety in America by keeping out potential terror threats and ridding the country of criminals through extreme vetting.
So controversial are the orders that federal courts have issued preliminary injunctions stating that the measures violates the First and Fifth amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. As the new administration launches its unprecedented offensive to monitor and control immigration, how will these policy changes impact the country?
Will President Trump’s efforts to overhaul immigration and manage the threat of terrorism in the U.S. be effective or could the result be the opposite, creating more animosity at home and abroad?
On this episode of the Voices of Reason podcast, we discuss these issues with Luis Garza, executive director of Communities United — an organization advocating for Latino empowerment in Utah, and Fatima Dirie, refugee liaison for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s office.
