Angelina Jolie: If We ‘Close the Door to Refugees,’ We’re ‘Playing With Fire’

Angelina Jolie is speaking out against President Donald Trump‘s executive order that restricts refugees from entering the United States in an emotional op-ed published today in The New York Times.

In the piece, she argues that “the global refugee crisis and the threat from terrorism make it entirely justifiable that we consider how best to secure our borders.” But, she says, “It is simply not true that our borders are overrun or that refugees are admitted to the United States without close scrutiny. Refugees are in fact subject to the highest level of screening of any category of traveler to the United States.”

Jolie, a United Nations special envoy for refugee issues, argues that not allowing refugees into the country is dangerous and ultimately could have the opposite effect of what we’re seeking:

“If we send a message that it is acceptable to close the door to refugees, or to discriminate among them on the basis of religion, we are playing with fire. We are lighting a fuse that will burn across continents, inviting the very instability we seek to protect ourselves against.”

And so she concludes, “Acting out of fear is not our way. Targeting the weakest does not show strength.” And then, speaking, seemingly to Trump, she ends the piece by saying “This is where I would hope any president of our great nation would lead on behalf of all Americans.”

For the full piece, head over to the New York Times.

[image via screengrab]

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