Aisha Dhesi (Soc 3, 9am)

On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump was inaugurated and sworn in as the new President of the United States. One week later he signed his first executive order under his presidency. This order suspended the U.S. refugee resettlement program for 120 days. Travelers from seven muslim majority countries were banned from entering the United States for 3 months. Thousands of visas were invalidated within hours of signing the executive order. Thousands of muslim passengers were denied for boarding their planes and were detained on their arrival.

According to the article "An interrupted journey ends in a new life in the U.S. for Syrian refugee family," after the ban was initiated, Samar and Zohri, a Syrian refugee couple, were devastated as they were sent to Syria back to their shabby little apartment. Their 14 year old daughter had high hopes of receiving and education and was disheartened as she realized that that opportunity of experiencing the American Dream may be taken away from her.

As the ban was lifted, many refugee families were welcomed openly by American citizens that did not support Trump's executive order. Another way people showed their support to new coming refugees was by cooking traditional Syrian meals for them. According to the article "How Syrian refugee woman are using food to fight President Trump," these group of refugee women welcome other refugees through meals. Not only that, they work to fight Islamophobia by sharing their traditional food with neighbors in the U.S.

These articles show that there are many people that are supportive of those who are coming into the United States as refugees. The ban lasted 3 months, however this did not hinder their spirits. Moreover it motivated people to work together to prevent Islamophobia.

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-na-syrian-refugees-maryland-2017-story.html

http://time.com/4663317/syrian-refugee-women-cook-food-restaurant/