Since Trump’s inauguration, the President has signed multiple executive orders, with little to no legal review, that have greatly impacted international relations. Most recently, Trump banned immigration refugees to the United States from Muslim countries such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, etc.

UND’s International Center has released a statement, “To our International Students: Please remain in the United States and do not travel, even to Canada, until we are able to determine the actual ramifications of the recently signed executive order.

Please know that we value you and above all, want you to feel safe and to succeed at UND. We will continue to update this page and send out messages to the listserv as more information becomes available. Thank you — UND International Center staff.”

As UND has made clear, international students have a huge presence on campus and they should never feel unwelcome here. And while this act may be controversial and confusing, the only truly surprising part is that we finally have a president who is making good on his campaign promises.

He has changed so much in such a short amount of time. His first week has started off with a bang. Whether this will be beneficial to the nation is debatable, but there is no denying that Trump intends to continue to do whatever it takes to fulfill his idea of a better America.

The reasoning behind the immigration ban is obvious. National Security is always of the utmost concern to national leaders and this move could potentially prevent of another 9/11, but for a nation built on the idea of immigration this is a radical move in a negative direction toward a future of prejudicial, discriminatory immigration practices.

Attorney General Sally Q. Yates felt similarly. She defied Trump’s order and was fired and replaced with someone who immediately carried out the President’s order.

If this is any indication, President Trump is not above getting rid of anyone who stands in the way of his nonsensical decisions, which will only create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

There have been airport sit-ins to protest the immigration ban and an increase in donations to the American Civil Liberties Union. The amount of friction is only mounting.

There also has been global backlash concerning the new ban on immigration. Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault tweeted, “Terrorism doesn’t have a nationality; discrimination is not an answer.” A petition with over a million signatures was created in the United Kingdom to not allow Trump to make a state visit.

In their wildest dreams, the Democrats, and even most Republicans, never thought Trump would carry out the extreme rhetoric he spouted on the campaign trail. Signing executive orders without any legal overview is reckless and may even be seen as an abuse of power. It’s times like these where  the checks and balances built into our federal system were created.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights.”

The Constitution of the United States of America expressly grants the freedom of religion to each and every citizen. To deny this right to incoming immigrants is immoral and unconscionable.

It’s unclear what Trump’s next move will be but he is operating as a one-man show with no decelerator. One can only hope that there are no fatal repercussions to his choices.

Elizabeth Fequiere is an  staff writer for   The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected]