Faith and fear: how Muslim anxiety over Trump’s travel ban unfolds in Hong Kong
City residents worry for relatives and friends in the US, while plans by some to work or study in America are now in disarray
In a seven-page document titled “Executive order protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States”, citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations, including refugees, were told they had been banned from entering America.
The order would soon be suspended by a federal judge, but not before it had disrupted the lives of hundreds of people. The ensuing furore saw protests on streets across the US, but the impact of the billionaire businessman’s move sent ripple effects far beyond the country’s borders.
With the order in limbo owing to a long line of legal challenges, the president’s team issued a new, revised version on Monday, this time only targeting six nations.
Yasir, 27, who prefers not to reveal his full name for fear of stalling his academic ambitions, said that despite the few changes introduced, the directive remained the same at heart, and that the shock he had felt when he first heard news of the ban would not be fading anytime soon with Trump vowing to pursue his hardline immigration agenda.
“There was one post on Facebook from my cousin in Texas that got stuck in my head. She said: ‘I am scared for my children,’” he said, describing how it had made his heart sink.
