Since President Trump’s inauguration in January, he has been on a valiant mission to improve and correct many of the pitfalls Obama set before his White House departure.
One of the areas that left the American people vulnerable was the Obama administration’s lax approach to immigration and Islamic sympathizers.
This apparent weakness was not in the best interest of citizens of the country of which it was pledged to protect.
The airline bans have been a hot topic since Trump took to the Oval Office. On January 27, “Trump signed an executive order which immediately barred entry into the U.S. for the citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen”, according to Fox News.
The order put a stop to the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, and permanently restricted access into the country by Syrian refugees, which brought crime and undue strain on the nation.
As the 120-day deadline has recently passed, we now are beginning to see the policy shifts from compliant international airlines.
Associated Press reported:
“Five global long-haul airlines will begin new security interviews of all passengers on U.S.-bound flights starting Thursday at the request of American officials, the companies said Wednesday.”
International carriers that will implement the new increased security protocol include: Air France, Cathay Pacific, EgyptAir, Emirates, and Lufthansa.
Now that major airlines have complied to aid in the safety of the American people, the laptop ban has been lifted.
This ban restricted specified countries from bringing laptops into the cabin on U.S. bound flights.
It had been discovered that some bombs intended for terrorist actions were able to get through security by means of personal laptops.
President Trump gave flexibility to the airlines by allowing them to choose the method in which airline passengers had to meet executive criteria.
MSNBC reported:
“Airlines for America, a U.S. trade group, said the changes “are complex security measures” but praised U.S. officials for giving airlines flexibility in meeting the new rules.”
Each airline seems to have chosen a different means of questioning concerning laptops in the aircraft cabin, and a short list of other pertinent risk factors that would alert “red flags” were included.
The Associated Press reported on the specific security pledges airlines have agreed to honor:
“Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd “will be subject to a short security interview” when checking their luggage.
EgyptAir said in a statement the new measures include more detailed searches of passengers and their luggage and interviews.
Air France will take the form of a questionnaire handed over to “100 percent” of passengers.”
Rules on the criteria to be met were ordered by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration; a sub-department of Homeland Security.
There has been many complaints by the left concerning the travel restrictions. The reality is the altered security measures should have been protocol prior to Trump’s executive order.
Terrorist threats to the United States are not new. Terrorist attempts at harming, and disrupting, American lives are not new.
The difference lies in our nation having a leader willing to make the hard decisions. Putting travel bans on predominantly Islamic populations is not a racist or bigoted choice, but a logical approach to empirical evidence.
Forbes reported on the statistics of terrorist activity:
“The ten worst affected countries in 2015 were all in the Middle East, Asia and Africa and, in almost all cases, it was Islamist extremists who were responsible for most of the deaths – the one exception to this was India.
On the basis of the IEP’s definition of terrorism – illegal violence by non-state actors designed to intimidate or coerce others, or in pursuit of a political, economic, religious or social goal – more than 72% of terrorist deaths last year occurred in just five countries, and although there were 274 known groups that carried out terrorist attacks, just four of them (Islamic State / ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban and Al Qaeda) were responsible for 74% of all deaths.”
It is an understood inconvenience that airline passengers will have to endure in order for the new security measures to take place. It is known that about 2,000 flights daily arrive into the U.S. that will be affected.
MSNBC reported on the frustrations by affected airlines:
“We are asking customers to show up at the airport early … It’s just inconvenient for the passengers,” President and Chief Operating Officer Walter Cho told Reuters in Taipei.”
It is extremely alarming the “inconveniences” of passengers is even a top concern for an issue concerning the protection of countless lives.
Just like many of the corporate companies that have made a robotic shift from human safety to monetary gain, airlines focus on the factors affecting their revenue stream.
There has been much more sacrifice than one’s inconvenience in the name of national security. Even as the U.S. loses precious lives to train those abroad to protect themselves, global initiatives are largely self-serving.
As the liberals blindly chant their opposition to the “isolationists”, I hope they will soon awaken to the fact that peace cannot exist among attempts at lethal chaos.
The American dream was begun by those wanting to start a life with more opportunities, and less oppression, for their families than they were given in their homeland.
When those involved in the immigration fight can’t separate those seeking the American dream, and those seeking destruction of those principles, it seems to beg the question of one’s motives.
There will surely be more developments in how the additional screening measures play out with the participating airlines.
We will have to wait and see if the due diligence of the president’s prompt halt’s terrorist attempts, or if additional legislative efforts are needed.
Please let us know if you have been affected by the airline bans, or if you feel the new protocol is enough to inhibit terrorism.