Letter To President Donald Trump

January 30, 2017

The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest
Washington, DC  20500

Dear President Trump

I have taken notice of your executive order of 27 January 2017 regarding the admission of refugees from certain countries in the Middle East.  I am bound in conscience to state my opposition to this policy.

I feel that is it a wrong policy from the following three perspectives: political, humanitarian and historical.

From the political perspective, this policy gives aid and comfort to this country's enemies in that it gives them a propaganda victory of immeasurable value.  These enemies, both foreign and domestic, can now proclaim to the world that USA pays mere lip service to support of the oppressed and downtrodden.  These enemies can point to the USA and say “see how they have abandoned you”.  This propaganda victory will help radicalize and rally others to their cause because no viable alternative is available.  It will also embolden them to perpetrate even worst horrors than the world has already seen.  These enemies will point to the USA and say “see how they look after their own interests to the exclusion of all others”.  This policy will also weaken the resolve of our allies to assist these oppressed people.  They will say “if the USA won’t help, why should we?”  In addition, it will cause our allies to think twice with regards to giving the USA assistance in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism.  Finally, it will build resentment in the hearts of the very individuals and groups that we will need to support and aid us in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism.

Secondly, this action of yours is a policy error from a humanitarian perspective in that the USA is probably the last best hope for many of these individuals to escape the yoke of tyranny, oppression, and sectarian / ethic violence.  We as a nation must make a decision, a hard decision no doubt, but one that must be made, often when the very life of the nation is at stake and that is do we only want to "talk a good game" when it comes to support and aid for the oppressed.  We cannot make statements regarding the love of liberty and justice and then do nothing to back up those statements.  The more we refuse to make good on our stated principles of justice and freedom for all, the less weight this nation's voice will carry in the community of nations.  For good or ill, the United States is a world leader and cannot turn its back and wash its hands like Pontius Pilate and abandon these migrants to the tyrants and oppressors from whom they are trying to escape.

Finally, this action of yours is an error from a historical perspective and this constitutes the gravamen of my opposition to it.  I must draw your attention to the a particular historical parallel, namely the 1939 voyage of the MS St. Louis.  On 13 May 1939, this ship set sail from Hamburg, Germany with 937 passengers, mostly Jewish refugees seeking safety after the terrible assaults on the Jewish community in late 1938, the most infamous being remembered in history as Kristallnacht (9 - 10 November 1938).  This voyage is often called the "Voyage of the Damned".  That ship was denied entry into the USA under the express instructions of then Secretary of State Cordell Hull and was forced to return to Europe with 620 passengers.  Historical accounts state that only 365 of those 620 passengers survived the Second World War.  Most were killed in the death camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor, or died in verminous internment camps or died in hiding.  This policy you have chosen will resurrect that specter and cause this country and your administration to be marked with a mark of shame that will be long remembered by the peoples of the world.

Unlike many, I do not wish for the failure of your administration.  To do so would be akin to wanting a pilot to crash his airplane while you are a passenger.  Nor do I hold any personal animus to you or members of your administration.  I do implore you, for the sake of this nations reputation, for the sake of your administration, for the sake of the verdict of history, which will be swift and sure, and most importantly, for the sake of the individuals affected, that you reverse this policy and move toward making this nation truly a city on a hill.

Respectfully yours,
Eugene Michael Giudice

CC:
Senator Richard Durbin
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Congressman Mike Quigley
Mr. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. Publisher, The New York Times
Mr. R. Bruce Dold, Publisher, The Chicago Tribune
Hayley Romer, Publisher, The Atlantic Magazine