We should use any and all means necessary to protect the citizens of the united states from those who want to harm us.
The idea that we have a massive terrorist problem in the United States in need of draconian immigration laws is a false premise to begin with. It's demagoguery and fear-mongering.
Since 9/11, there have been zero deadly terrorist attacks from the countries on Trump's list. There have been 3 non-deadly attacks in the last 15 years. The odds of being killed in any kind of terrorist attack in the US are astronomically low. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning, you have a much better chance of dying in an accidental shooting. Study after study has shown that immigrants (and even more so refugees) are less criminal than native born citizens.
"...But look what's happening in Europe" you might say. The massive influx of crime in Germany? Well, firstly, that's not exactly true.
But the statistics compiled by the authorities also show that the probability is no higher among refugees than in the domestic population. According to police crime statistics, the number of criminal acts increased by about 4 percent in 2015 over the previous year. The increase was mainly attributable to a rise in asylum- and visa-related offences. If these offences are factored out of the equation, the number of criminal acts remained virtually constant, even though the number of people in the country had increased by hundreds of thousands.
Secondly, we already had a much more extensive vetting system than Europeans did. It wasn't easy to get into this country as a refugee or asylum-seeker, and by any measure, we've had success preventing terror attacks from immigrants.
Third, this executive order will not stop a committed terrorist from attacking and there's no real foolproof way to do that. How hard do you think it would be for an ISIS member to get a Saudi passport? Or to fly to Canada and cross the border (are we going to build a wall there too?)? Or to radicalize someone who already lives here? Trump's actions are political theatre meant to make him appear "tough."
Given that, why should we degrade the civil liberties and basic human decency that makes America what it is? Why should we torture, when it's proven that it doesn't work? Why should we deny women and children fleeing a brutal Iraqi war (that we started!) shelter and safety when we can afford to do so?
It's not because I'm on some hippie kumbaya shit, it's because I believe in the greatness of this country and the ideals it was founded on. Religious freedom. Freedom from persecution. The inscription next to the statue of liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Terrorists aim is to create terror. To create fear. Trump has weaponized that fear, in spite of all evidence indicating how incredibly unlikely we are to encounter terrorism in any form. It is cowardice, not toughness, to change who we fundamentally are in face of adversity.