Hatred, prejudice, and discrimination; these are the three ingredients that have been used to formulate the President of United States, Donald J. Trump’s, travel ban. Trump secured his presidency by playing off of the fear and emotions of Americans, but there is a limit for how far Trump can take his agenda of blatant discrimination. U.S. District Judge Derick Watson is the latest judge to show individual resistance to Trump’s executive order to ban travel between the U.S. and 6 predominately Muslim countries. As Ruby Fung, a fellow UBC Commerce student, states in her blog post “Trust & Leadership”, “lack of trust can lead to disgruntlement, team inefficiency, and other unproductive behaviour.” This statement is very accurate for trust displayed between Donald Trump and the court system at this current point in time.
The “other [form of] unproductive behavior” that is stemming from this lack of trust is individual resistance (Fung, 2017). Judge Derick Watson, as a response to the travel ban, demonstrated two forms of individual resistance, the first being difference in assessments. Donald Trump saw his ban on the entrance of people into the USA from predominately Muslim countries as a way “…to keep our citizens safe” (Nuckols et al., 2017), which Judge Derick Watson disagreed with. He saw the government’s argument as “illogical” (Nuckols et al., 2017), which is one of the reasons why he blocked the travel ban. The second form of individual resistance that Judge Derick Watson showed was self-interest. Judge Watson stated that, “[his home state of] Hawaii would suffer financially if the executive order constricted the flow of students and tourists to the state” (Nuckols et al., 2017). If Hawaii lost a portion of their tourism industry, their economy would become incredibly variable, as tourism is their largest industry (“Hawaii’s Foremost Industry”, 2004) . Although Judge Watson displays his individual interests by blocking of Trump’s travel ban, he is also upholding the First Amendment that protects individuals from religious discrimination. Throughout growing up in Vancouver, I have been taught acceptance of all beliefs and have been immersed in many cultures and religions that differ from my own. I therefore know that this prejudice is unfounded, and commend Judge Watson on his actions that have protected the rights of Americans.
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References:
Nuckols, B., & Kelleher, J. S. (2017, March 16). Donald Trump Travel Ban Blocked in Court Again. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://time.com/4703399/trump-revised-travel-ban-blocked-federal-judge-maryland
1.(2004). Although tourism has become Hawaii’s foremost industry, many other sectors contribute to the state’s economy. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://hawaii-guide.info/past.and.present/economy/
Fung, R. (2017, February 2). Ruby Fung’s Blog | Just another COMM292 Blog. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from https://blogs.ubc.ca/rubyf/
