In light of recent events concerning Donald Trump’s refugee ban, which has, for the moment, been stopped in its tracks by US judge James Robart, we decided to delve a bit deeper into the lives of poets that have moved to the U.S. and who, if the ban was effective at the time, may never have been able to tread on US soil. For those who are unaware, America’s newest president, Donald Trump, has implemented an executive order that bans Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. indefinitely. The order has also blocked citizens from seven mostly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days – Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. And, finally, for 120 days, all people that are fleeing their homeland because they fear violence are also blocked from the U.S. Needless to say, we don’t agree with the ban, and hope the district judge’s blocking order is made permanent, but it made us reflect on all of the poets that have entered the U.S. over the years.
To read more and to view the interactive map, please click here.
*The opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors.