With a stroke of the pen on a misdirected and, I believe, malicious executive order (EO), President Donald Trump unleashed a dynamic that will, I fear, have consequences as far reaching and damaging to my country and my community as the Bush administration’s wrong-headed responses to the September 11 terror attacks.

What the various provisions of the EO have done is to deepen Arab popular anger at the United States, provide Daesh with a public relations gift, fuel Islamophobic fear here at home, while, at the same time, exacerbating sectarian tensions within the Arab community.

Suspending and placing restrictions on immigration and refugees from seven mostly Arab and Muslim-majority countries will not make America safer.

The data is clear. Immigrants from the countries on the White House list have not posed a threat to the US.

Those who have been excluded are largely either students, family members visiting their kin or business people.

And vulnerable refugees from these same countries who are now being denied admission are among the most rigorously vetted individuals coming to America — ensuring that they pose no danger to our country.

What the EO has, in fact, done is cancel the visas of between 60,000 to 100,000 individuals.

more:   http://jordantimes.com/opinion/james-j-zogby/it-not-just-muslim-ban-it-much-worse