'Trump Is Right': Syrian Christians, Muslims In U.S. Express Support For President's Immigration Ban
Strident voices continue to fill the airwaves against U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.
But there are also voices, fewer and less strident but nonetheless as compelling, that show the other side of the controversy.
Syria is one of the countries where the travel ban has been imposed. Hence, it's surprising to find some Syrian Christians living in the U.S. actually supporting Trump's executive order.
The Washington Post recently heard the views of these resettled Syrians in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
"Trump is right, in a way, to do what he's doing," said Elias Shetayh, a Christian from Syria who immigrated to the U.S. 46 years ago and is now an American citizen.
Aziz Wehbey, a fellow Syrian Christian, also expressed backing for Trump's decision, saying it's hard to check the backgrounds of the refugees wanting to come to America.
"We're concerned about, if God forbid a terrorist attack happened here ... that we're all labeled as bad people. I hate to say it," he said.
Wehbey also pointed out that the majority of the refugees in Allentown are Christian Syrians, hinting that bringing in Muslim refugees there would not be a good idea.
"We don't want to see a religious conflict over here," he said.
Some Muslim residents in the U.S. have also made it clear that they support Trump's 90-day moratorium on travel to the U.S. from citizens of seven terror hot spots, including Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Sudan.
"It's not a ban on Islam, or any religion," Raheel Raza, a Pakistani-born Muslim human rights activist, told Fox News. "There is so much hysteria surrounding this order that it's unfortunately barring reason and logic."
Raza said border security is the right of every country and that it's only right for the Trump administration to secure America's borders while they work on a more effective solution to stop terrorists from sneaking in.
Dr. Zuhudi Jasser, founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, also backed Trump's move.
In a Fox News interview, Jasser noted that during "the cold war, we vetted against communism, for communist theory and ideology. That was part of the immigration process."
This time, the threat comes from Islamist extremists. Hence, the need to check refugees who could later pose such threat, he said.
"There is nothing more pro-Muslim than vetting jihadists," Jasser quipped.