On Friday, Donald Trump banned people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, leading many to be detained at airports. Americans have already come up with a number of ways to protest the immigration ban — starting with sharing quotes about immigration on Facebook. It's true that more action is needed than simply sharing a few words on social media; since sharing those words can help educate people about the issue, though, it's a start. Words of wisdom can inspire people to make signs, stage demonstrations, and call their representatives to make their voices heard — because, well... you know how that phrase about the pen versus the sword goes, right?
The executive order Trump signed on Friday states that for the next three months, people from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen can't enter the U.S. It also prohibits Syrian refugees from entering at any time. This order affects about 218 million people throughout the world. Protests broke out over the weekend at airports across the country in opposition to the order, and although the ACLU scored a victory when a federal judge granted a stay on Saturday night, there's still a long fight ahead.
Trump's temporary ban on immigration from several Muslim majority countries stems from and furthers harmful stereotypes. The executive order claims to be "protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States," which stems from the assumption that a significant proportion of Muslims are terrorists. This false assumption promotes distrust of Muslims in particular and hostility toward immigrants in general.
This is what we're up against — and why supporting the immigrant community is so essential, now more than ever. Here are a few quotes you can share on your Facebook wall that fight prejudice toward immigrants and advocate acceptance.
1"History shows that it is not only senseless and cruel, but also difficult to state who is a foreigner."
2"We are immigrants. I am an immigrant and I am proud of being an immigrant and coming into this country and not being a statistic, but overcoming what the statistic may have been and being the best at what I put my mind to."
3"It makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts, compared to what the immigrant fears — dissolution, disappearance."
4"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
5"What makes someone American is not just blood or birth, but allegiance to our founding principles."
6"Our nation is built upon a history of immigration, dating back to our first pioneers, the Pilgrims. For more than three centuries, we have welcomed generations of immigrants to our melting pot of hyphenated America: British-Americans; Italian-Americans; Irish-Americans; Jewish-Americans; Mexican-Americans; Chinese-Americans; Indian-Americans."
— Ami Bera
