On January 27th, 2017, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed Executive Order 13769, which suspends entry into the United States for those who are nationals of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, regardless of a valid visa, for 90 days. It suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, and for Syrian refugees, the ban is indefinite.

Donald Trump’s ban on immigration and refugees does not ban any of the countries the 9/11 hijackers came from. The Orlando Nightclub shooter was American born and would not have been stopped by the ban. The Boston Marathon bombers were born in Kyrgyzstan and the USSR, and would not have been stopped by the ban. The San Bernardino shooters were born in Illinois and Pakistan and would not have been stopped by the ban.

These are but a few reasons why I believe the ban to be unjust and ineffective. Please understand, to write personally on such a controversial topic involves a level of bias that I cannot and will not attempt to remove. The views expressed are mine alone. That said, I hope that readers may at least find in this article a common ground.

I am the son of immigrants. Specifically, I am the son of refugees. My father and mother fled a Communist regime, one which violently seized power in the conflict known here as the Vietnam War. Born and raised in the United States, I can’t presume to understand what refugees face, a position that extends to many of us blessed enough to live in America. My father’s memories of watching bodies wheeled down the street in wagons, thrown around like sacks of flour, or listening to artillery shells rain upon his hometown, have only given me the tiniest glimpse into the lives of people confined in war-torn homes. It is with this drop of empathy that I plead my case for the ocean of fear and desperation that the refugees from these broken countries hold within their hearts.

To have refugees who are desperate enough to abandon their homes, to flee from their history and ancestry, is living testament to the incredible horror of their lives. These are fathers whose daughters have been raped by extremists. These are mothers whose sons are gunned down like dogs in the street. These are people who just want a better life in the United States, for themselves and their children. They want the chance to work for the American Dream like my parents did a generation ago, and like the European immigrants escaping religious persecution and the descendants of African slaves have done.

No matter where we come from, or who we are, the great allure of America as something better, something greater, endures.

These sentiments are not a dismissal of the fears some Americans hold of foreign-born extremist attacks, those who recognize that the majority of refugees are in true, desperate need, yet are concerned about terrorists slipping through. This is not a declaration that these people are suddenly entitled to the rights of an American citizen. This is a rebuke against the xenophobic and fear-mongering propaganda attempts to label the entire Muslim or Middle Eastern community as dangerous and violent. There are better solutions, more American solutions, than a mass ban that blocks entire nationalities and detains valid visa holders. We need to combat Islamist extremist recruitment online, as terrorist propaganda reaches American-born citizens as in the case of the San Bernardino attack, and continue to enforce strict background checks and thorough vetting processes. We need to continue to respect the ideals that America was founded upon, and allow these refugees the chance of a brighter future.

We must remember that the 90 and 120-day ban weighs infinitely heavier upon refugees than it does upon us as Americans. Many of these refugees have waited months or even years to apply for refugee status, dutifully following through with the increasingly strict regulations and background checks. Those in especially high-risk areas struggle to defend themselves and their families daily, whether it be from Islamist extremists or coalition airstrikes. Put simply, a day might be an eternity for someone whose family might be ripped away from them in an instant. A single day may make the difference between the American Dream and a broken nightmare.

Emma Lazarus’ “New Colossus” defines a better tomorrow, immortalized by Lady Liberty, an ideal that has stood for centuries and will stand for centuries more.

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

The tired and the poor will wait for us. But how many must we watch die before we open our doors?