Executive Action on Refugee Program - Unnecessary and Counterproductive

The controversy surrounding the Trump administration continued with the executive order temporarily banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.  Proponents claim this is a necessary move (and a follow-through on a Trump campaign promise) to increase US security (America first!) and, anyways, it is just temporary.  I disagree with this executive order because it seems both unnecessary and counterproductive.

Unnecessary and Counterproductive
How does banning travel for those from these countries make the US safer? As many have noted, nobody from these seven countries has performed a terrorist attack in the US since 9/11.  It's not like people from these countries have just been waltzing into the US.  Refugees face a complex and stringent vetting process in order to be able to enter the US.  By shutting down travel from these countries, the US is seemingly handing Islamic terrorists group another propaganda gift.. As this story is covered globally, how easy must it be for ISIS and other groups to use it as "proof" that the US rejects Muslims.  To be clear, I don't think this executive order necessarily means that the Trump administration is rejecting Muslims but I think it is imperative to think of all consequences of these actions and this is one of them.

In my opinion, if the US is concerned about making the US safe, particularly regarding who is coming into our country, it would be a good time to be appreciating and strengthening our relationships with Mexico and Canada.  The effort, strength and cooperation of these countries helps to create the stable regional environment that the US lives in and one that almost any country would trade for.

With many campaign promises checked off in high profile manners, I hope to see the Trump administration think more long-term and strategically in these types of issues moving forward.

Voter Fraud.. You talking about voter fraud??

A main issue that Trump ran on during the 2016 Presidental Election was voter fraud.  Purportedly, millions upon millions of people were voting illegally, swinging elections to the Democrats and overall causing a degradation of our democracy.  Even after winning, a defiant Trump has said he only lost the popular vote because people voted illegally. To me, this is ridiculous as well as dangerous because it distracts from the proven bigger issue of voter suppression.

Ridiculousness

No credible source has agreed with Trump that voter fraud is a big issue.  Surprise! This is a bipartisan issue where everyone agrees very few (and not remotely close enough to affect an election) people actually commit voter fraud. In a day and age where the main parties can not agree on anything (read: Republicans claiming Democrats are going against the American people's will by delaying Supreme Court votes.. When Republicans did the exact same thing 6 months ago), this is something that almost nobody sees as an issue! Based off bi-partisan dismissal of the issue and voting experts claiming the system is secure, I dub this claim, ridiculous,

Dangerous

Maybe Trump knows it's a ridiculous claim. Maybe there's a more complex strategy in play here.  It's no secret that changing demographics are making Republican's jobs of winning elections tougher.  The population increase of minorities who have traditionally voted Democrats coupled with the decreasing population of the Republican base has made the election map more difficult (although the recent presidential election shows assumptions about who makes up the base may be ill-founded.. READ: Hillary's midwest bulwark.  Therefore, some have suggested Trump's pressing of this issue is more of distraction for other things that are going on in the voter area.  For example, the 2016 election was the first election in 50 years where the protections in the federal Voting Rights law were not in full effect. Many have noted that Republican led state governments have enacted many rules that seem to target traditionally Democratic voters such as students, minorities and immigrants.  Even if Trump's investigation into voter fraud results in nothing, it likely will be beneficial from a Republican standpont because it diverted attention from these laws.

Even in the age of fragmented media, I hope journalists continue to do their investigative duty to ensure comments from politicians from all parties are vetted and countered if proven incorrect.