The Atlantic

Trump's Immigration Order Is a Propaganda Victory for ISIS

The American president has reinforced the victimhood narrative at the core of the Islamic State’s recruitment pitch.
Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump handed the Islamic State and its likeminded rivals a symbolic victory when he announced he would immediately suspend immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. By stopping the citizens of Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran from entering the United States for 90 days, and from Syria indefinitely, the new American president worked wonders for salafi-jihadist ideologues the world over.

Citing, on Sunday, the “” of Europe as his justification for the policy—which out in protest at and around the world—Trump’s can be summarized as follows: By stopping citizens of countries that are “sources of terror” from entering into the United States of America, he will reduce the threat presented by “infiltration by foreign terrorists.” (It’s worth noting, as the New America Foundation , that “every jihadist who conducted a lethal attack inside the United States since 9/11 was a citizen or legal resident.”) In any case, reaffirming his position in a posted to Facebook on Sunday, Trump contended that “this is about terror and keeping our country safe.”

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Return of the John Birch Society
Michael Smart chuckled as he thought back to their banishment. Truthfully he couldn’t say for sure what the problem had been, why it was that in 2012, the John Birch Society—the far-right organization historically steeped in conspiracism and oppositi
The Atlantic17 min read
How America Became Addicted to Therapy
A few months ago, as I was absent-mindedly mending a pillow, I thought, I should quit therapy. Then I quickly suppressed the heresy. Among many people I know, therapy is like regular exercise or taking vitamin D: something a sensible person does rout
The Atlantic7 min readAmerican Government
The Americans Who Need Chaos
This is Work in Progress, a newsletter about work, technology, and how to solve some of America’s biggest problems. Sign up here. Several years ago, the political scientist Michael Bang Petersen, who is based in Denmark, wanted to understand why peop

Related Books & Audiobooks