Dear Editor,

I note with interest the exercise of authority by the president of the United States, Donald J Trump, in making good on one of his election campaign promises, by signing an edict, last Friday, which effected a ban on foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

At this point, I am still trying to recover from the trauma that Trump, despite his rampant lies, insults, ignorance and xenophobia, was chosen by some of the American people as their leader. Can there be any more madness in America? Of course!

No one could reasonably argue that America does not have the right to protect its borders and its people from the threat of terrorism. Every country, including Jamaica, must protect its borders.

I support the implementation of an advanced vetting system to extricate from within, and to prohibit all known and suspected terrorists from entering the US shores. There are just too many terrorists from countries with these red flags, who are invading and wreaking havoc on not only America, but smaller countries in the Caribbean as well.

What I unreservedly disagree with is Trump’s divisive, arrogant and provocative approach in painting every foreign national with a broad brush, and presuming even the innocent and law-abiding people to be terrorists.

I have known and respected America for its exemplary global leadership by virtue of its fair, just, reasonable and democratic style of governance. Many countries the world over have adopted these principles to improve their own state of affairs.

However, Trump, in executing this edict, appears intent on eroding the long established moral and fundamental principles of tolerance in the American democratic system, which enables foreign nationals who have legal status in the US, coming to be with their families and travelling at their leisure, due to his ill-advised and authoritarian leadership.

This fatuous and clearly misguided policy implementation of segregating everyone, including decent, law-abiding foreign nationals, who are now severely inconvenienced and humiliated by this madness, can only be described as egregiously untenable and discriminatory.

By the rate at which Trump is going, in broad-brushing everyone as being terrorists and criminals, we should be mindful that his provocative and undemocratic leadership style will soon reach us here in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Fortunately, the American judicial system is firm and independent, thus, Trump and his administration cannot dictate how it deals with matters of law, especially when it infringes on the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens and their family members. The court is the judicial authority of the land, not Trump.

Can America really become ‘great’ again with Trump’s unbridled lunacy and arrogance? The Americans who voted for him will soon see. The rubber-stamping of madness has already begun.

Dujon Russell