President Trump and his association enacted the Immigration Ban on January 11, 2017, targeting many Muslim people along with their families and friends. This ban detained many people traveling or planning to travel back the United States from seven different countries. At George Mason, we have the privilege of being able to be so diverse. With this diversity and copious international students, this problem became one close to home, sparking an outrage on George Mason’s campus.
On January 31, 2017, I had the honor of being a part of an Immigration Rally located on campus. I watched many people speak about how the ban was affecting them and their stories. I talked with Muhammad, a Muslim student at Mason, who explained his difficulties coming back to the United States from Qatar over winter break. He was pulled aside in customs because of his packs of cigarettes and questioned about personal opinions such as his political views and how he felt about President Donald Trump. The questions that were asked were shocking to Muhammed because he wasn't acting any different than anyone around him and felt he was only taken out of line because of the way he looked. Muhammed explained his feeling about being Muslim was that people were “expecting him to apologize for ISIS” although Muslims are killed on a regular basis by this terrorist group.
On the other hand of the rally was a man who held a sign saying “Refugees Get Meow.” I interviewed this man and asked him the meaning of the sign, he responded that he “doesn’t really care about the ban” and explaining that most people against it “probably have not read the full executive ban.” I had the privilege of seeing the opposite side of this rally and how the ban was affecting this man, who considered it a “good thing.” He was not affected by it in any degree and stated that if his family was in this position, he would just wait the 90 days and see them.
In addition to these students speaking their opinions about the protests, chants were made. “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here”, was chanted and heard all over campus. George Mason is making a difference and being noticed by many places. NBC12, a top news station, was there to cover the story and many aspiring journalists spread throughout the scene. This protest was not the only one on a college campus that day. This empowerment of students was spread upon the campuses of Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University in addition.
