Angelina Jolie’s Open Letter To Donald Trump On Refugee Ban

After Donald Trump signed an executive order which temporarily restricted the movement of refugees into the United States, 41-year-old actress Angelina Jolie wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times which was an open letter to the president and spoke passionately about how refugees were not terrorists, but were actually fleeing from terrorists themselves.

“Refugees are men, women and children caught in the fury of war, or the cross hairs of persecution. Far from being terrorists, they are often the victims of terrorism themselves.”

Angelina Jolie was particularly distressed over Trump’s ban on refugees as she has been a special envoy for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees since 2001 and has also worked on 50 missions for the United Nations, as Fox News reported.

“Americans have shed blood to defend the idea that human rights transcend culture, geography, ethnicity and religion. The decision to suspend the resettlement of refuges to the United States and deny entry to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries has been met with shock by our friends around the world precisely because of this record.”

While Angelina Jolie’s open letter to Donald Trump did state that she fully understood the reasoning behind wanting to keep America’s borders safe and also said that she felt it was “entirely justifiable” that the United States would want to keep terrorists out, she also suggested that there must be an overall balance when it comes to managing our borders and helping refugees.

“Every government must balance the needs of its citizens with its international responsibilities. As the mother of six children, who were all born in foreign lands and are proud American citizens, I very much want our country to be safe for them, and all our nation’s children.”

Angelina Jolie takes on Trump’s refugee ban in a NYT op-ed https://t.co/ge6Y7pT6Gi pic.twitter.com/pQCjPdANxt

— HuffPost Canada (@HuffPostCanada) February 5, 2017

While all of Jolie’s children were born abroad, and three of them were adopted from Ethiopa, Vietnam and Cambodia, all of her children are American citizens.

The notion that Donald Trump would stop immigration completely from certain countries didn’t sit well with Angelina Jolie, and she implored him to not just entirely write off refugees based on what countries they originated from or based upon their particular religion.

“But I also want to know that refugee children who qualify for asylum will always have the chance to plead their case to a compassionate America. And that we can manage our security without writing off citizens of entire countries, even babies, as unsafe to visit our country by virtue of geography or religion.”

USA Today also reported that Angelina Jolie told President Trump that acting out of fear was not the American way and that when you targeted the weakest people you were not showing strength. Jolie noted that it was a false notion that the borders of the United States were overrun and teeming with refugees and said that refugees who are admitted to America already face enough intense scrutiny as it is.

When it comes to the amount of refugees that the United States actually accepts, Angelina Jolie states that less than 1 percent of the 65 million refugees in the entire world will ever find themselves completely resettled, whether they are placed in the United States or elsewhere.

Angelina Jolie’s recent op-ed statement and open letter to Donald Trump is one of the few public statements that the actress has made since she filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September of last year.

ABC News also said that Jolie wants to be sure that any refugee children who would normally qualify for asylum will still be able to have the opportunity to do so in the United States now.

“I also want to know that refugee children who qualify for asylum will always have a chance to plead their case to a compassionate America.”

Donald Trump has so far not responded to Angelina’s op-ed piece.

What do you think of Angelina Jolie’s open letter to Donald Trump and do you agree that the United States should continue to help refugees whenever they are able?

[Featured Image by Jordan Pix/Getty Images]