North Texas Daily

Once again, President Donald Trump has not failed to deliver on his promises. His campaign promised to “ban all Muslims” from entering the U.S., and this was put into action on Jan. 27.

This executive order, meant to be a 90-day test trial to give Trump’s administration enough time to figure out a better vetting process, has been the target of mass protests and demonstration. Yet Trump stands firmly by it. Not only is this hurting America’s overseas relations, the economic effects of this are also devastating.

First of all, how will the governments and businesses of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen react to the news that their citizens are forbidden from entering the U.S. — no matter what their reason for entering it is?

If a corporation from one of these companies cannot send its representative over to the U.S., they may not feel so inclined to do business with the states. Countries on this list could retaliate and impose high tariffs and taxes on U.S. goods, making trade more expensive for American companies. Trade between countries affected by the “Muslim ban” total to around $30 billion annually, which is not insignificant enough to be disregarded.

Not only this, but from an objective standpoint, U.S. financial markets reacted negatively to the news, and the value of the dollar declined in value compared to other currencies. Major Fortune 500 companies, such as Google and Amazon, have spoken out against this ban, with all signs pointing to it hurting the U.S. economy.

The possible “brain drain” that could result from this ban could undo everything that has made America great in the past 200 years. Even since World War II, the U.S. has been providing refuge to intellectuals everywhere, and slowly but surely establishing its dominance as the academic capital of the world.

World-changing innovators and immigrants such as Steve Jobs, whose father was an immigrant from Syria, and Sergey Brin, the founder of Google who escaped from the Soviet Union, were all from oppressive governments that limited their potential. All the biggest and most impactful innovations in this world come out of the U.S., and limiting the number of intellectuals who could contribute to this might unseat America from its throne.

Students are not only vital in the long term, but they also bring more than $700 million a week in the forms of tuition and spending, according to estimates from College Factual.

Immigrants with student F1, J1 or M1 visas have also been banned from entering the U.S. and are unable to finish the educations that they have paid so dearly for. Not only do the immigrants suffer, the universities suffer as well. Without immigrants paying full tuition, most colleges take a huge hit financially and are unable to disperse their knowledge to those who need it.

In conclusion, a ban of people from specific countries has huge financial implications, and “banning all Muslims” like Trump proposes would lead to unprecedented ramifications for the U.S.

Previous vetting procedures, such as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System implemented after 9/11, have been shown to be not effective at all. Data from Newsweek even argued that the “Muslim ban” could cost the jobs of 50,600 to 132,000 American workers.

Tourism has decreased since 9/11 and has taken almost a decade to recover. The diverse and multicultural America that we know and love might slowly disappear. The “Muslim ban” has to go not just for social and political reasons, but also because the potential effects on the U.S. economy could hurt us for decades to come.

Featured Illustration: Samuel Wiggins