Trump's attack on American values

Donald Trump likes to portray himself as a great American patriot, but during his first week in office he has been running roughshod over American values.

For all the bloviating about "America First," Trump is putting his own business interests first and the interests of the American people last. The day after he was inaugurated, half a million people marched on Washington against Trump along with hundreds of thousands more in cities across the country. Trump's approval rating this early is the lowest of any president in recorded history. It took George W. Bush five years for his approval rating to drop below 45 percent. It took Trump one week. Fifty percent of respondents disapprove of his performance.

His first week included executive orders aimed at spending American money to build a barrier on the border with Mexico, keeping Guantanamo Bay open, reconsidering the use of torture and banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering America, including those who already have visas or green cards and are legal American residents. One week in and he's apparently already given up on his pledge that "Mexico will pay" for the "wall." Instead he proposed having Americans pay for the wall by levying a 20 percent tax on consumer goods imported from Mexico.

His attack on immigrants is supposedly to protect Americans from terrorism, yet many of the countries targeted were the birthplaces of exactly zero terrorists who attacked America. The risk of terrorist attacks in America overall remains extremely low: 94 Americans have been killed by Islamic-inspired terrorists in the 15 years since 9/11 according to the think tank New America, a number that pales in comparison to the more than 16,000 murders that occur in America in an ordinary year.

His ban, meanwhile, covers many people who have already waited over a year, gone through background checks and been approved for immigration or refugee status. The first day the ban was in place, two Iraqis who already had visas were detained at American airports. 500,000 legal residents with green cards have been affected, and stories abound of Americans with family members abroad who might not be able to make it to weddings or other events. International students from the countries in question have been warned not to travel outside America until things are sorted out.

The truth is that this kind of xenophobia goes against what are traditionally known and lauded as American values. Immigrants around the world have a dream of starting a new life in the U.S., and they contribute "tremendously" (one of Trump's favorite words) to the American economy. Most Americans recognize this. Fifty-nine percent of Americans in 2016, according to Gallup, support keeping the number of immigrants the same or increasing it. A majority support immigration reform to allow undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. Most oppose Trump's costly border barrier.

Banning immigrants on the basis of their religion or nationality goes against the foundational tenets of America incorporated in the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, a federal judge ruled less than 24 hours after Trump's extreme immigration ban went into effect that it was unconstitutional. Judge Ann Donnelly of New York wrote in an emergency ruling that there is a "strong likelihood" that the removal of the Iraqis and other green card-holding residents "violates their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution." The most egregious aspect of the order is thus unenforceable until it is reviewed at a hearing set for February.

The court system puts an important check on Trump's worst tendencies. Unfortunately, while many of Trump's ideas are inherently unconstitutional, not everything that is stupid is unconstitutional. The ban on refugees not accepted yet may stand. And even those policies that are unconstitutional may take time to work their way through court, with people suffering in the meantime.

The most reassuring thing is that Americans are standing up in DC and across the nation, protesting and offering their services. At the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, lawyers offered their services for free to work on behalf of those detained. Lawyers from the ACLU reacted immediately and saved Syrians and Iraqis from being deported. Americans have donated money to groups that are fighting for the rights of those in Trump's crosshairs, including $10 million to the ACLU since Trump was elected.

Trump is a problem, but it's those Americans who stand for real American values - not Trump's twisted version - who are going to stop him.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm

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