When Muslims Got Blocked at Airports, US Veterans Rushed to Help

Lt Col Robert Hill - minority religions are being given priority, which could include those of the Shia denomination and several other religions from that area. The Christian faith is not it mentioned in any of the texts. Religion persecution is a major concern when it comes to the US refugee program, and that is nothing new as it has been in place for a long time.

Lt Col Robert Hill - Robert, persecuted religious, ethnic or other minority groups are regularly given special consideration in refugee and/or immigration/visa consideration. In case you are unaware, Christians are a very small minority under real persecution and outright murder in some areas in the middle east.

We do this all the time. I am not sure why you think this is exceptional or special or unprecedented. People are dying in many areas of the world for lots of different reasons. We don't have an obligation to take any of them and if we want to prioritize oppressed minorities (religious or ethnic etc.) that is our prerogative.

You are looking for a boogeyman where one does not exist. Shia and Sunni muslims are the predominate religious factions in that area of the world. Depending on the country one or the other is dominate in number.

The order is legal, the president is well within his authority to issue it and it will be followed and if he wants to make a special consideration for oppressed minorities be they Christian or Kurdish Yazidis, he is allowed to do so under executive authority. . You can whine all you like but there is nothing here illegal or immoral. Obama is gone, we are now applying a tougher approach to immigration and refugee admission.

He may have stated Christians will be given priority, which was probably a dumb thing to say, but the order says minority religions and does not specify what those religions might be. The main refugee issue in question right now at hand is from Syria, and second is probably Iraq as ISIS is one of the main reason for this refugee crisis. ISIS is Sunni and seeks to kill everyone except Sunnis and others who refuse to join or bow down to them. Someone posted an article in a different thread that cites that of all the refugees originating from Syria, 99 percent are Muslim, and 1 percent are Christian, and this is before Trump was elected. So although everyone seems to be getting all uptight by a poorly thought out verbal statement from Trump, realistically the order says, "prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual's country of nationality". That is open to interpretation, but if a person claims they are being persecuted because they are a Shiite Muslim, and given that that denomination is the minority in Syria, they would given as much priority as a Christian making the same claim. And again, only 1 percent of Syrian refugees are Christian, how many are actually applying for refugee status? Christians from Syria only reside in 4 or 5 major areas and if those areas are not in a volatile hot spot, there is probably a good chance they aren't applying as refugees at the same level as Shiite Muslims. US CIS already has policies that deal with this and they may tweak them slightly to comply with the EO but they will go by what they have always gone by and minority religions being persecuted in certain areas because of religion will be handled the same as always during the vetting process. Either way, it's not like Christians are getting an open pass, in fact they are probably scrutinized even more to ensure the validity of their claim.

Lt Col Robert Hill - I understand what Trump verbally said in that interview and however you want to put it as an idiotic statement, poorly worded, bad judgement, or whatever, the actual written order specifically says, "prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual's country of nationality". When speaking of Shiites vs Sunnis ratio, I am speaking specifically of Syria since that is the country with the most stringent restrictions right now with regards to refugee seekers. Khazan (2012) cites in Syria, the religious breakdown is about 12% Alawites (a specific sect of Shiites), 60% Sunnis, 9% Greek orthodox Christian, 9% Kurd-Sunni, 4% Armenian Christian, & 3% Druze. Since ISIS, made up of Sunnis, is a major reason for there being a refugee crisis, I would venture to say that most of those seeking refugee status would be mostly non-Sunnis, and this is specific to Syria. Depending on where these certain groups live and what level of threat they fear from ISIS would determine if they qualify for refugee status. If ISIS doesn't reach their area and it does not appear they will, many of these people probably are not living in enough of a credible fear that they would meet criteria to become a refugee. As I stated in an earlier post, of all the Syrian refugees, only 1 % have been Christians. The rest are Muslim, but that article did not break down which sect of Muslim they were. Part of being approved for refugee status, the same as someone seeking asylum once they step foot in the US or another country, is to prove you have an actual fear of being persecuted because you fall in a certain category of people. Imagine a Jewish person from Israel saying the are seeking refugee status because they have a fear of being persecuted their country for being a Jew. If you are a Kurd living in a predominantly Kurdish area, you will be probably not qualify as a refugee. Guidelines would have to be set for each country with attention paid to the religious demographics of each area. What works for one country will not work for another. So I don't see a big deal in making Christians or the Druze being given priority in the refugee line for those from Syria. It's 1 percent. As I already said, people are getting their panties in a bunch for pretty much something that isn't happening on a large scale, but the fact it was said has everyone losing their minds. No one wants to lose their place in line, I sure don't, but if someone worse off than me wanted to cut, and it was 1 friggin person, I think I would be okay with it. Does anyone go searching for articles and read this stuff? OMG! Trump said Christians are going to be a priority, that's so unfair, the humanity, Oh Lord! But it turns out its 1 percent. It's nothing. Now back when Obama was in office, he disallowed Christians to even be considered for refugee status, that's even worse. People of the Islamic faith can seek refuge in a predominantly Islamic part of the world, but Christians can't? That makes absolutely no sense.


Khazan, O. 2012, October 18. The Washington Post. Who's fighting whoom in Syria. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2012/10/18/whos-fighting-who-in-syria/?utm_term=.02878f267a8c

They will. I simply and sncerely wish they would have waited to do things in a well thought-out manner. To many other worse nations states aren't on the list. We are after all the United States of America and should be thought of a beacon of stability and not as a country that "flys off the handle" and reacts to world events impulsively. If we are to remain the leader of the free world then when we speak it should be after careful consideration and review of the situation - unless matters of National Security prevent such a review & debate; and then we do not waiver in our decision or resolve.

I agree, this is no way for things to have been handled as they were. The election was in November and all the heads of these agencies knew, or should have known what was coming, and been better prepared. Perhaps it is because presidents do not typically do the things they say so quickly. I work for a federal agency which has been affected by a specific executive order, and we still do not have any official guidance, other than the broad scoped executive order. Understandably, most of the secretaries and higher commands are going to change hands because they are appointments, but somewhere in the middle upper echelons are managers that are not politically appointed and they should have been putting together some plans. Apparently, Legal Permanent Residents (Green card holders) were not supposed to be detained more than usual at the airports and this was a miscommunication, but it probably shouldn't have been.

The enemy is already here... they are in Congress and in the Senate; Democrat Fascists that hate our way of Life, and they wish to CHANGE it. When asked what CHANGE they aspire to create they just smile. Now you are seeing it, and witnessing it; millions of aborted children as their wacked out demented murdering mothers are released to walk freely among us as little murderess's; homosexuals taunting their sexuality is a Right that the GOP wants to take away... that we will go backwards if they can't have sex in the dormitories of our Military.

Screw this... let's have our 2nd Revolution and define what this Nation is again. We are long overdue, and we have segments of our Populace refusing to step up as Americans and better the lives of other Americans; they only want to TAKE... they refuse to GIVE.

Many in the Middle Eastern World dream of deleting this Nation... it is much more than just a dream; they are racing for the ICBM... they already IMO have the Nuke... the bastard Pakistani's gave it to them. That IMO determines that THEY should be deleted too.