This past week at Professor Enn’s Rose Cafe, a few students gathered in Professor Blalock’s home to discuss the politics surrounding the immigration ban. As a Muslim American, I was particularly curious to hear the thoughts of my peers regarding the ban. As one student pointed out, there are some constitutional gray areas regarding the President’s power over non-citizens of the United States.

My family is originally from Pakistan; a country selectively discluded from the list of largely muslim majority countries that have been banned. Some say this is due to Donald Trump’s business ties to Pakistan, while Trump apologists claim it could be because of the Pakistani governments previous assistance to America during the Afghan war. Yet, I know of international students from Lahore and from Karachi here at Cornell, who fear that Pakistan will soon be added to the list of countries banned from the United States. These students are reevaluating their decisions to study abroad or visit family overseas – for weddings or for funerals- out of fear for losing the privilege of reentering this country and completing their education at Cornell, a school they have already invested so much of their time and money into.

My freshman year at Cornell I was sure that although not everyone has equal chance at being accepted and enrolled at Cornell, once we are here each student does have more or less equal opportunities to succeed. This no longer holds true. Our muslim peers on visas from these select countries cannot study abroad, they cannot be hired by the same companies, and they have to spend extra money on summer and winter housing.

Listening to Professor Enn and the other Rose Cafe attendees this past week gave me hope. I was comforted by the majority opinion the students held- that the muslim ban was inhumane and immoral. One student brought up that we should make an effort to have supporters of Trump or his policies feel more included in our discussions. While a nice gesture on the forefront, I can not find it in me to be inclusive of an individual who believe banning refugees from asylum in America is the correct move for this nation. I do not feel the need to make someone who holds this inhumane and inherently immoral belief feel included and supported.