On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order to halt refugee admissions into the United States. The order has suspended the US Refugee Admissions Programme for 120 days, indefinitely banned all Syrian refugees and suspended for 90 days anyone coming from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. This was a vague promise that Trump had repeated numerous times on the campaign trail, but many thought it would not be realised. The supposed aim of the policy is to give the US time to overhaul the immigration system so there can be increased vetting for immigrants to prevent Islamic terrorists from entering the USA. What I think is abundantly clear though is that this plan is counterproductive, wrong and could well be illegal.

Since 9/11, nine American citizens have been killed on average each year by Islamic terrorists – seven each year killed by jihadists who are US citizens, and none killed by terrorists from any of the seven countries on the ban list. In comparison, over the same timeframe, 21 Americans each year have been killed by armed toddlers, 69 each year by lawnmowers and an enormous 11,737 each year by a fellow American. The likelihood in the last 40 years of an American being killed by a refugee is 1 in 3.64 billion per year. What these statistics highlight is how minimal the threat from refugees is, particularly in comparison to the gun problem in America. This ban, contrary to what the President might tweet, is not saving thousands of lives.

That is not to say that the threat of terrorism is one that should be ignored. Terrorism is a serious problem – one that has to be tackled with well thought-out policies. All that this policy does is increase the threat of terrorism to Americans. In the words of Senator John McCain, the policy will ‘give ISIS more propaganda’. These sentiments were echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said that ‘the necessary and determined fight against terrorism does not justify placing people of certain origin or belief under general suspicion’.

By banning people from these countries from entering the US, the winners who will benefit are terrorist recruiters – US citizens do not win. The policy sends a message to the Middle East that the USA sees all Muslims as Jihadists. Stoking hatred against the US only makes Americans less safe by making them more of a target. It is why so many terrorist groups are rejoicing at the news, with many terrorist-linked accounts on social media calling it “the best caller to Islam”, describing the ban as “blessed” and referring to an al-Qaeda leader’s prediction made a few years ago that the West would eventually target its own Muslim citizens. ISIS is trying to portray the narrative that the West is at war with Islam – this ban has added an abundance of fuel to that fire.

Trump cites the recent terror attacks in Europe as justification for his ban. But I argue that they only show that he is wrong. When France banned the burqa in 2010, the ban made it illegal to cover your face in public. Extremist groups used this ban as a justification for attacks. In the first issue of al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine was a response article titled “The West Should Ban the Niqab Covering Its Real Face”. The burqa ban became a centrepiece for jihadist propaganda. Now the leader of the free world has signed an order to ban Muslims from the US, the French banning the Burqa is insignificant in comparison. Being intolerant unsurprisingly does not help you in the fight against terrorism, it’s counterproductive.

The ban may not be felt for that long, however. There are many questions over whether the ban is legal or not. In addition, there is also the question of what Congress may do. This will not stop the ramifications of the ban lasting for a long time. The message that the US will not take in Muslims will be seized by terrorist groups and it could well make American less safe. Donald Trump may think that he is smart, but this policy is anything but. He has given terrorists their trump card.