The refugees who support Donald Trump’s immigration ban

THE critics of Donald Trump’s immigration ban are vocal, but the orders have drawn unexpected support from some American Muslims and former refugees.

A supporter of US President Donald Trump waves a US flag during a demonstration against the immigration ban. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP

THESE refugees know all too well the struggle to make it to the US and live the American dream, but they have thrown their support behind Donald Trump’s immigration ban.

The President signed an executive order on January 26 barring citizens of seven Muslim countries — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen — from entering the US for at least 90 days. He also imposed a 120-day suspension of the US refugee program and blocked Syrians from entry indefinitely.

The orders have been controversial — but not all oppose them.

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Joy Cadarette voted for Trump and supports his immigration decision, saying the country must err on the side of caution to protect Americans. Picture: AP/Kathleen Ronayne

Helen Megido, a 43-year-old registered nurse from Washington, came to the US from Latvia in 1989.

She said she waited six to nine months to get refugee status reported CNN.

“[If] you want to get here, you wait your chance. You wait your turn,” Megido said.

“If they want to get to America, three months, six months — it’s nothing. They can wait.”

Daniela Otero, a 37-year-old student from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, who has both Mexican and Native Americans in her family, said she supports Trump’s policy because she wants a safer country for her children and future grandchildren.

“I think Islam is a threat to our constitutional laws. I know that a lot of people including myself feel that in ways we’ve been infiltrated in our government,” Otero said.

“I’m fully supporting Trump on this.”

Robert Lastra who was born and raised in South Florida after his father fled Cuba in 1960 told CNN he saw the chaos unvetted refugees caused.

He said a surge of Cubans who came to Florida in 1980, many of whom were convicts, ruined South Florida.

“I sat there and watched my entire community turn into a literal Dodge City because of all the violence and killing and drug trade,” Lastra, who now lives in Texas, said.

“I’ve seen that happening in Texas too.”

He supports Trump’s plan to build a wall along the Texas-Mexico border, saying it will discourage those coming into the US illegally.

“Thank God that somebody is tightening the borders and they’re going to properly vet these people, even if it means keeping most of them out,” he said.

“They don’t have the right to be here to begin with. They don’t have constitutional rights to be here. They’re here by the grace of God, just like I’m here by the grace of God.”

American Muslim and political analyst, Shireen Qudosi, supports Trump’s executive order on immigration. Picture: Twitter/Shireen Qudosi

And these people are not alone in their support for Trump’s ban. A recent Quinnipiac poll revealed that 48 per cent of Americans approve of “suspending immigration from terror prone regions, even if it means turning away refugees,” while 42 per cent oppose such a measure reported Fox News.

Americans did not agree with Obama’s decision to open the door to more Syrian refugees. At the end of 2015, a Quinnipiac poll revealed that 51 per cent of the country stood against the move, while only 43 per cent supported it.

U.S. public seldom has welcomed refugees into country https://t.co/muLENsoPoy pic.twitter.com/6ecFUDQm1I

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 31, 2017

American Muslim and political analyst, Shireen Qudosi, said Trump is doing what is in his legal rights to keep America safe.

“We need to be stricter about who’s coming in,” Qudosi told Fran Kelly on ABC Radio National.

“To say this is some sort of inherent, blanket attack on the rights of citizens from other parts of the world or refugees is incorrect; first of all it’s not a human rights issue it’s a security issue.”

She said their vetting system is broken and needs to be fixed.

Originally published as The refugees who support Donald Trump’s immigration ban