President Donald Trump’s travel ban is odious enough, but now it’s having the effect of barring new United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s partner from entering the United States.
Carrie Symonds works for Oceana, an environmental group focused on ocean conservation. As a citizen of the United Kingdom, one would think she would be able to enter the United States easily. After all, we are allies and she clearly speaks English and is white, something that is apparently important to Trump and his white nationalist pals.
But Symonds has been denied a visa because she visited Somaliland, a territory that split away from Somalia, a nation on Trump’s travel ban list.
The list also includes Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen, and anyone who visited one of these countries after March 1, 2011, is automatically rejected.
According to The Express:
The US does not recognise Somaliland, though UK does have political contact with Hargeisa while Ukip have previously announced support for international recognition for the region which for the most part has not suffered from violence at the hands of insurgent group as the rest of Somalia has.
Indeed, former foreign minister Saad Ali Shire has said: “Somaliland is a separate country. We don’t have the troubles and problems with terrorism and extremism that they have in Somalia.”
This is why a travel ban is ridiculous and why the United States needs a president who knows foreign policy and understands basic geography. Trump’s policy literally bars anyone who even visited one of these nations in the last nine years from gaining entrance into the United States, regardless of whether you’re a real threat or not.
Symonds went to Somaliland to discuss environmental and human rights issues. She didn’t go there to become a terrorist. But that’s apparently the thinking of the Trump administration. And that’s yet another embarrassing turn in our increasingly strained relationship with the United Kingdom. Just imagine if the United Kingdom banned Melania Trump from entering their country because she’s been to Saudi Arabia, a country that murders journalists and is where most of the 9/11 attackers originated.
How many more allies must Trump and his policies insult before enough is enough for the American people?
Featured Image: Wikimedia
